'I want to see a bit of cop on'

It was an incident that infuriated Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney and dominated headlines on Saturday night.

A three-man breach decision went against his side and ultimately proved pivotal in their Allianz Football League defeat to Galway.

The rule says a team must keep at least three outfield players in the opposition's half at all times, but there are exceptions, namely if it is clearly unintentional, if players are within four meters of the halfway line, not interfering with play, or not gaining an advantage.

McGeeney claimed Joe McElroy came to the touchline to inform his manager he was injured, but the fourth official alerted referee Barry Cassidy who penalised the Orchard County, advancing the position of a Galway free.

Rob Finnerty's two-point attempt dropped short but bounced past goalkeeper Blaine Hughes and into the net. That goal got Galway back into the contest.

"The call on the breach in the first half was shocking stuff," McGeeney told RTÉ Sport aftewards.

On Allianz League Sunday, six-time All-Ireland-winning ex-Dublin man Paul Flynn empathised with McGeeney, and called for a more common sense approach from the officials.

"(The footage) is inconclusive but if he was just over the line, the rule states he's not impeding the play, you've got four metres of a (buffer)," said Flynn.

"You can see Galway are looking for the breach so that can probably impact on the officiating, but look at the impact it has, (the free) goes straight into the net, and it really shifted the momentum in this game, so you can see Kieran McGeeney's frustration at it.

"Look, referees are going to make mistakes all across the weekend and there is a lot for them to be dealing with. In these incidents of the breaches of the three up, I just want to see a bit of cop on. If they're not impacting the play, even if it's six metres, don't call him for no reason.

"In those instances you just want to see the game flow, and it did turn the momentum in a game where Armagh were in control. Is it the reason Armagh lost the game? You could argue that one, but at that moment in time it had a big sway in how the game was going."

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