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On the first weekend of every league it is always possible to decipher what the referees have been talking about in their pre-season briefings. At Páirc Uí Chaoimh Johnny Murphy awarded two black card penalties for offences that took place outside the large parallelogram, both of which resulted in goals. When was the last time two penalties were awarded for that infringement in the same game?
There was a strong argument that Waterford’s black card penalty shouldn’t have been given, partly because there was so much defensive cover between the Waterford player and the goal, and also because the covering defender had his arm wrapped in the tackle by the attacker and was dragged to the ground. But Murphy was prepared to err on the side of implementation, and it was a cheap lesson for Cork.
Since that rule was first introduced on a trial basis in 2021 it has gone through periods of abeyance when it seemed to be forgotten. The purpose of the rule is to discourage cynicism in goal-scoring situations and that must be supported at all costs. If there must be a spate of black card penalties over the coming weeks to align everyone’s thinking, then so be it.
The red card issued by Murphy in stoppage time for helmet interference was not insignificant either. This rule has been around much longer than the black card, but every so often referees without the stomach for big calls resort to yellow cards for these
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