A decade of Hawk-Eye: 'Tá' and 'Níl' moments

This month marks a decade since 'Tá/Point' and ‘Níl/Miss’ were added to the GAA’s lexicon as Hawk-Eye became a fixture at Croke Park.

First unveiled to the press in May 2013, it was originally handed a two-year trial run at headquarters as well as being handed a spot at Semple Stadium in Thurles in 2016 before a temporary presence at Páirc Uí Chaoimh the following year.

The GAA had originally hoped for a 2012 start with a number of contentious calls raising the pressure, including a Colm Cooper effort that looked like a point in a 3-10 to 1-15 Allianz Football League loss to Dublin the year before.

"It’s another notch in the bow for technology," said Jack O’Connor, then in the second of his three terms as Kingdom boss.

The 2012 drawn All-Ireland SHC final also saw Richie Power’s shot waved wide by one umpire and awarded as a point by the other in Kilkenny’s drawn encounter with Galway. Referee Barry Kelly decided it was a score with the Cats winning the replay.

After the the GAA's Coiste Bainistí requested a feasibility study, the 2013 Congress in Derry saw the trial period being given the green light before it was made a permanent fixture at Croke Park two years later with 98% of delegates agreeing that it should be rolled out to other grounds too.

The first championship game to use it was the Leinster football encounter between Kildare and Offaly on 1 June, 2013 with Warwickshire and Longford the first hurling counties involved a week later.

Quizzers should note the name of Offaly’s Peter Cunningham. He was the first player to have a shot decided by Hawk-Eye and unfortunately for him it was a ‘Níl’, or ‘Miss’ as the graphic said in the early days.

Warwickshire’s Sean Hennessy was also off target a week later in the Lory