KEVIN CASSIDY: A no-win situation for Glen

CONFIRMATION has come through that Glen have lodged an objection that could potentially result in the All-Ireland club football final being replayed.

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of it, let me begin by saying that Croke Park left the Glen club in an awful situation. The more I look at things, no matter what they decided to do, it’s a no-win situation for the club.

If the objection leads to a replay and Glen were to win, their historic first All-Ireland senior football title will be viewed by some as tainted.

Likewise, if they lost a potential replay, some people will be on their backs as well. It’s almost as if they’re doomed if they do, doomed if they don’t.

The rule was obviously broken, so therefore Croke Park should have acted swiftly instead of letting this drag on and turning into a circus which is what we have at this stage.

Let me also be completely honest when I say that I don’t think Kilmacud intentionally broke any rules. It was a case that in the heat of the moment, with so much at stake, that the instruction to come off possubly never reached the player in question.

Let me also state that I don’t think it had a massive bearing on the result. With Kilmacud two points up, I don’t think that, in Glen’s attempt to engineer a goal with the last play of the game, the extra player had a massive impact on that.

For me, the sole blame lies with the officials who allowed the subs to enter the field of play and failed to communicate with the referee to hold play up until the player who was subbed off left the pitch.

With that in mind, if there was any decision to be made, it should have been made by the officials of Croke Park and not left to Glen club. For me, that’s the biggest crime here.

The game itself failed to live up to its billing with both teams operating at a level lower than we all know that they are capable of playing to.

Glen started well with their excellent goal by talisman Danny Tallon, but after the penalty, Kilmacud slowly got to grips with the game. When they look back on this game, they will not be happy with the amount of score able chances that they missed.

And, if there is a replay, I’m sure that this is the biggest area that they will focus on. For now all we can do is to sit and wait to see what happens. I’m sure that you will all agree with me, no matter what tranpisres, I don’t think anyone can have any issues with either club here because this was a problem that was created elsewhere.

This weekend sees the return of the National Football League and on Sunday I will make my way to Ballybofey to cover the Kerry v Donegal game.

As usual, I’m excited to see the action underway once more.

Donegal are a young side at the moment and I’m sure they will be boosted by the news that none of last year’s starting Kerry forward line will be available this Sunday.

This may just be the perfect opportunity to get a positive result and instil some confidence in this new crop of players.

Obviously as a football fan, we would all love to see David Clifford play on Sunday but on the other hand we are glad up here that he is taking a bit of a rest and he can come back in a few weeks’ time when Donegal have a few points on the board.