Anthony Daly Highlights Bizarre Aspect Of Chaotic Munster Final Ending

The debate around James Owens' decision to blow for full-time during Cork's final attack in the Munster hurling final continues, with Anthony Daly highlighting what he felt was a particularly strange aspect of the incident.

Cork's hopes of forcing extra-time were ended in dramatic circumstances when Owens sounded the final whistle just as Tim O'Mahony struck the ball during the Rebels' last attack.

The controversy erupted after Patrick Collins opted to play a free short from his own half rather than launch the ball directly towards the Limerick goal.

Mark Coleman gathered possession and quickly transferred it to O'Mahony, only for Owens to call time before the Cork midfielder's effort could reach its destination.

Speaking on The Sunday Game, Anthony Daly said the timing of the whistle was what left him most confused.

He did blow it before Tim O'Mahony had full control of the ball, which I found bizarre as well.

The former Clare and Dublin manager then outlined a scenario that could have caused even greater controversy.

But if Tim O'Mahony had met that clean from the halfway line and got it over, now it was a fair wind, but he was about 20 yards ahead of where Patrick Collins has taken the free.

But if he had nailed that, there'd have been chaos down there.

Daly's point centred on the fact that Owens did not immediately blow for full-time when Collins played the initial free short.

Nor did he end proceedings when Coleman took possession.

Instead, the referee waited until the ball had been transferred a second time to O'Mahony before sounding the final whistle.

That sequence left Daly wondering if a different approach from Cork might have altered the outcome.

I wonder if Collins just launched it long, would he have waited to see what developed because he didn't blow it when it went to Coleman.

He waited for Coleman to play it back into O'Mahony, then he blew it.

Former referee Brian Gavin was critical of Owens' overall performance in his Irish Examiner column but defended his actions on the final play, pointing out that Cork had already received more time than the announced period of additional time.

There was confusion about the amount of time they felt they had to force a scoring chance.

Patrick Collins passed it short to try and work an equaliser but after the third pass Owens called for full-time — much to the annoyance of some Cork players.

Did they have reason to be frustrated? Maybe if it hadn't been clear what was remaining but it was two and a half minutes over the announced five minutes.

Ultimately, the controversy could not overshadow Limerick's victory, with Nickie Quaid producing a man-of-the-match display at 37 years of age, Aidan O'Connor scoring 0-8 and Gearóid Hegarty contributing 1-1.