The GAA will investigate the angry scenes that followed yesterday’s All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final in the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday. Portlaoise fans invaded the pitch and confronted referee Michael Duffy following the tie.
Kilmurry-Ibrickane came out on top in the clash with Portlaoise. However, referee Duffy had reduced Portlaoise to 13 men during the course of the encounter. Duffy sent off defender Brian Mulligan and captain Brian McCormack.
Mulligan was sent off for a high tackle after only 40 seconds, a decision which sparked the ire of the Portlaoise faithful. As a result the referee was greeted with a chorus of boos and he was given a police escort from the pitch at half-time.
Duffy also had to be escorted from the field at the full-time whistle as the referee was confronted by angry Portlaoise officials. A Portlaoise supported also invaded the pitch and confronted Duffy in an aggressive manner. This supporter was restrained by Gardaí.
Portlaoise manager John Mulligan, who is the father of sent-off defender Brian, added fuel to the fire after the game, by saying: 'I thought it was a joke. If the man has a conscience, he won’t sleep for a long time. I don’t want to sound a bad loser but it was an absolute joke of a refereeing decision.
‘He caught him a bit high, it was definitely a free but a yellow would have sufficed.
‘There is no such thing as consistency. One of their players came in as a sub, hopped off one of our lads and the referee did nothing.
‘I asked him about it at half-time and he wasn’t going to entertain me.'
Kilmurry-Ibrickane supreme Michéal McDermott backed referee Duffy over the Mulligan sending off, saying: ‘The referee made a call on the dangerous tackle early on and if that happens, you’ve to go off for it.
‘I thought he did a good job today and it was sad to see the scenes on the field there with the referee.’
