‘What was Johnny McDonnell doing to make you laugh?’ That was the question posed in several texts to me after Monday night’s programme.
The answer is not much. He moved forward across my camera shot a couple of times, and Pat Morley referred to it as the first eclipse this year, and then while one of the matches was playing, Johnny said to me that he saw a ball and had to go for it. It was the innocent look in his eyes as he said it that tickled my funny bone. A little piece of nonsense, but the unfortunate thing is, that once you start laughing at something like that, it's very, very hard to stop.
The draw for the quarter finals of the FAI Ford Cup led to an anticipatory atmosphere in studio. Johnny Mc scribbled out what he thought the draw would be, but the only one he got right was Waterford versus St Pats, assuming Pat's get past Monaghan in their forthcoming replay. I suppose as Meatloaf almost sang, one out of four ain't bad.
Regular readers of this column will know that a couple of weeks ago I offered the opinion that the standard of refereeing had improved in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland this season (yes I know a good proportion of you think I've finally lost it, but on the evidence of what I've seen in venues countrywide I think the overall standard hasn't been too bad). I'm sure several managers who voiced their disapproval of refereeing decisions last weekend would also wonder on what I'm basing my opinion. I find myself getting less upset when referees do make rotten decisions. Maybe I've reached a Zen-like calm when it comes to these sort of things, and given what's happening in the wider world there are more important things to worry about than a dodgy refereeing decision, or a linesman whose eyesight is more Mr Magoo than a carrot-crunching 20/20.
There is one thing in League of Ireland grounds up and down the country that drives me crazy. For most people watching it's probably something that passes them by without costing them a thought, and yet my Zen-like calm invariably deserts me temporarily while a goalkeeper is forced to run out to the corner flag to collect a shot that has skidded wide, or a cross that's evaded all incoming attackers.
The issue I speak of is the lack of ballboys - or girls - in the four corners of the grounds. I know I should be waiting for bigger issues to send my blood pressure rising but I can't help myself. Some clubs place two or three ballboys behind the goals and the three of them gather together behind the nets where the goalie can collect the ball himself without too much bother. Sometimes there are no bellboy to be seen at all. On other occasions there are ballboys behind the goals and on one side of the ground, but not on the other.(Tallaght Stadium, for those who are wondering). I think I saw Gary Twigg getting hot under the collar about this on the pitch last week.
It's nice to see young kids getting the chance to be ballboys for games and I'm sure they are thrilled by the experience, but they are also there to do a job and in some cases they are too young. This results in a situation where they are intimidated by their surroundings and become almost frozen when the ball comes near them, or they haven't got the strength required to get the ball back to the players rapidly.
If you go to a match on the continent, the ballboys and girls are generally at least 16 years old. They seem to be trained in the art of keeping the game flowing and they each has a ball to give to the player about to take the throw-in, kick-out, or corner-kick and then go to retrieve the original ball that went out of play. Simple really.
Although I feel sorry for the ballgirl at Ewood Park a few years ago who incurred the wrath of Jimmy Hill on Match of the Day. On that occasion, late in an FA Cup tie, Blackburn lead against Liverpool when the ‘offending’ ballgirl retrieved a ball for Liverpool very quickly as the game was just about over, and the Pool scored a last gasp equaliser. She's probably been scarred by that for life but at least she was doing her job properly.
It's something the FAI might look at for forthcoming internationals at Croke Park. Let's make sure the ballboys are sufficiently mature to cope with the situation and will be ‘on the ball’ if Ireland trail and need to keep the pace of the game up. I know this all sounds completely trivial, but the next time you're at a match and there are no ballboys, check how much time is wasted with goalies trotting out to the corners to get the ball back.
One email broadcast this week criticised Bohemians for not publicising the fact that the club had tickets for sale for the European tie against Red Bull Salzburg. Club PRO Brian Trench has been in touch with us to outline the various press releases etc issued in the build up to the game and it would have been apparent from them that tickets were indeed available for the game. Here is a portion of the media release on 20 July:
‘Tickets are selling strongly for Bohemians’ clash with Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League at Dalymount Park on Wednesday evening (kick-off 7.30pm).
‘The main stand (Jodi Stand) at Dalymount Park is sold out for Wednesday’s match and the School End (Des Kelly) stand is almost full. But tickets are available for the open seating on the Connaught Street side of the ground. Adult tickets cost 15 euro, student tickets 10 euro and children’s and pensioner tickets are 5 euro.
'Cash payments will also be accepted at the Connaught Street turnstiles on Wednesday evening.’
In fairness to Bohemians, they couldn't do much more than that as it was stated on the Bohs website that cash would be taken on the night as well, although Brian did apologise for the fact that nobody answered the phone when our emailer called the club before the game.
Finally, good luck to St Pat's against Steau Bucharest on Thursday in the Europa League. Turning over a 3-0 deficit is a near impossibility, but they can do the League's coefficient some good with a positive result against the Romanians and they deserve as much support at the Dublin venue as possible.
