Time to accelerate the talks.
Just over six minutes of normal time to go and Tony Kelly gets free down the left-hand side.
He lines up a shot and, sure, the angle is tight but this is Tony Kelly we are talking about. He backs himself, and with reason too.
His shot looks to have snuck in by the post. The umpire on that post looks to be reaching for his white flag to signal a point that will put Clare 0-20 to 1-16 ahead.
Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash is not having it and the umpire is then approached by his fellow umpire for a chat.
There is a brief conversation – one that Nash really should not be part of – and a decision is reached.
The umpire stationed on that near post waves Kelly’s shot a wide. Clare’s John Conlon is the closest player in yellow and blue but his protests are waved away.
There is no Hawkeye in Páirc Ui Rinn for a game that was moved from the roughshod pitch at Páirc Ui Chaoimh. Play goes on but Clare are far from happy.
After conferring, the umpires decided this Tony Kelly shot slid wide – Cork ultimately won by three points. Watch full highlights on Allianz League Sunday (9.30pm) tomorrow pic.twitter.com/y1PibklOxg
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 16, 2019
The game ends with Cork reeling off four more points to the Banner’s solitary score. A victory for John Meyler’s men but Clare will be as upset with that ‘wide’ as they will with the 15 frees they conceded for Pa Horgan to lap over the bar.
Following the game, former Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack had a degree of sympathy with Clare and called on the GAA to introduce to get moving on what he feels is a very simple solution. He said:
“A point worth making – the ball is the wrong colour. Right, simple as that. It needs to be a ball that can be seen.”
That assertion drew a chortle from Clare legend Anthony Daly but Óg Cusack would not be deterred. He said:
“I’m dead serious… on a serious level, it’s like tennis. Tennis used to be a white ball and they changed the pall for people, players, umpires, TV to see it.
“I know Croke Park are looking at it, but that change of ball can’t come soon enough – to give everybody that little bit of a help. Umpires included.”
Prepare to hear more about this one in the coming days.
‘The ball is the wrong colour…it needs to be a ball that can be seen’ – Donal Og has his say after it appeared Clare had a point chalked off as a wide by the match officials pic.twitter.com/PtkZFsjvRP
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 16, 2019
The balls may change colour but this result goes in the record books as a win for The Rebels, their first league win of 2019.
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