COMMENT UNAPPEALING
It’s crazy to think Keaney’s red card wasn’t overturned
I AM worried. I am confused. And I certainly am devastated and deeply hurt for young Jack Keaney.
When you talk to people around Drogheda, they tell you that not only is Jack a great player, but also a great human being.
However, unless my eyes are deceiving me, along with thousands of other pairs of eyes within the League of Ireland, the events of this week are deeply concerning.
On Monday night, Drogheda were comprehensively beaten by Shamrock Rovers’ Bradley Babes at Tallaght Stadium.
When the clock turned to the 70 minute mark, Drogheda were 3-0 down with a mountain to climb.
That was when Johnny Kenny went through on goal, and when it looked like goal No4 was about to arrive.
However, Kenny clearly slipped before he had the chance to shoot.
Big Jack, the chasing defender, had nothing to do with the fall. That is my view having studied pictures of the incident countless times.
Incredibly ref Rob Hennessy then brandished a red card to Keaney.
That brilliant LOI TV commentator, Con Murphy, reflected on the decision after watching the replay.
He told the viewers how harsh the decision was and questioned whether there was any touch at all on Kenny.
Fake
In my view there was a covering Drogheda defender which should have stopped Keaney getting a red card.
Perhaps the pictures on LOI TV are a deep fake.
Perhaps - and my tongue is firmly in my cheek here - the Kremlin has recognised the astonishing growth of the League of Ireland and decided to get involved?
Are China, the political kingpins of the Far East, now interested in influencing events in the far west of Dublin?
Are they spying on the League of Ireland from the Tallaght mountain tops? Maybe this sounds ridiculous. But do you know what else was ridiculous? First the sending off. Then the failed appeal to get the decision overturned.
The match was played on Monday the 29th and finished just over a couple of hours from midnight and the start of Tuesday the 30th.
After the game, that gentleman manager, Kevin Doherty (right) , understandably went on a rant in his media interviews to call the decision “awful”.
He was confused at how Hennessy had told him it was a clear foul.
Doherty’s frustration was palpable, saying that from his perspective, the foul most certainly was not clear.
So many of us agree with him. Doherty told the media that Drogheda would appeal as he cannot afford to lose Big Jack.
But then the shocks just kept coming.
Was this a difficult decision for the FAI’s appeals committee?
When I reviewed the game, and looked at the LOI TV evidence, I thought that it was anything but a ‘clear foul’?
So the fact that Drogheda United had decided to appeal made this a very tricky decision for everyone.
I expected a serious amount of time to be given to make sure the League of Ireland came to the right decision.
Because by this stage so many people were laughing at the League when they saw the video footage of the alleged foul.
Surely if the independent appeals committee has other evidence
- i.e. a different camera angle, or an admission from the player that he tripped
Kenny - then we should know that and be shown it.
But I tell you what, the speed of the Independent Appeals Committee’s decision,is something they would be proud of in
Beijing - because it was taken on April 30. Surely Jack Keaney and all of Drogheda’s team and management deserve better for what Doherty thought was an awful decision.
Commentators thought there was no contact.
And yet the Independent Appeals Committee then thought it was correct to not even dedicate a full day after the incident to investigate and subsequently dismiss it. All of this means that Big Jack will now have to serve a one-match suspension.
Everyone agrees that consistency is the key to refereeing. Any Independent Appeals Committee has to make sure that justice is not only served but is seen to be served.
Where is the consistency that when other players get red cards, they receive three game bans?
I just think the fact Hennessy is on duty in Galway this evening is wrong.
If it was the correct decision that he made on Monday, and a disgruntled manager then describes it as an ‘awful’ one, then surely he should also be banned, if we are sticking to the logic that it was right to send off Keaney?
It seems that amid the flurry of statements, that Doherty, Drogheda and their brilliant supporters deserved a better deal.
They needed a more extensive appeals process and a clear answer as to what made it a clear and obvious foul.
Whoever is in charge of referees has a responsibility to come out and explain the decision.
Intrigued
And I will be intrigued to see who turns up in Galway tonight to assess Rob Hennessy’s performance.
That will certainly be interesting.
Rob Hennessy is a great referee. As Doherty stated, we all make mistakes.
And from what I saw, this was a mistake.
To then ban an innocent man is dreadfully wrong and deeply worrying.
What is the point of an Appeals process if we have a fair idea what the decision will be before it is ever made?
Because no one ever really seems to win an appeal any more.
Surely there was enough evidence for the Appeals Committee to take their time and come to the right decision?
But the fact that everyone wants this issue to go away disturbs me.