Referees should be allowed to change mind

■ REFEREES have been a hot topic this week on the back of errors last weekend.

And that heaps more pressure on them.

It’s easy to say that they should be moved out and another batch moved in, but where are the alternatives? The reality is that they’re just not there.

■ So we should be trying to support the ones we have as much as we possibly can.

Take Kyle Hayes’s disallowed goal in the Limerick-Tipperary game.

He was incorrectly deemed to have picked the ball off the ground, something that I wouldn’t be critical of Liam Gordon for because it was an honest mistake, which we all make.

■ But, within 15 seconds, a TV replay had shown that the goal was legitimate. Could a match official with a monitor not get the word down to Liam to allow the goal and the game moves on quickly?

Technology could be used for critical calls, like goals and red cards, for a start.

■ That particular incident won’t have any impact on how the Championship plays out, but just wait until a big game like an All-Ireland final is decided due to human error.

John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer made a great point during the week that referees should talk to players and managers, rather than this headmaster mentality that many of them bring onto the field with them. ■ I’m sure if James Owens (pictured) apologised to Barry Hogan and Stephen Bennett last Saturday and respectfully ordered a retake of the penalty, he would have come out of it with far more credit than has been the case.

We hear it so often that a referee never changes his mind. Well maybe they should from time to time.