O'Connor aggrieved after 'bizarre' Donegal point call

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor was irked by a "bizarre" decision to award a Donegal point late in the first half after a shot which he contended had drifted "a yard or more wide".

On the half-hour mark, with the visitors leading by five points, Caolan McColgan struck a shot goalwards which the umpire on the near post signalled as a point. There was confusion on the sideline as the crowd appeared to believe the ball was wide of the left upright.

O'Connor, with a decent vantage point on the sideline, said he was adamant that the ball was clearly wide and reported afterwards that the linesman standing beside him agreed with this verdict.

Nonetheless, referee Liam Devenney eventually awarded the point after briefly going in to consult with his umpires.

The call wound up having ramifications as Donegal reeled in Kerry in the final quarter, Paddy McBrearty curling over a superb winning point deep into additional time.

The four-time All-Ireland winning manager said he didn't want to engage in sour grapes but insisted the officiating wasn't up to standard.

"Arra, it's not even (that I'm) angry. It was just a bizarre decision," O'Connor told RTÉ Sport after the game. "The ball was a yard or more wide. I was standing beside the linesman and he said it was wide.

"And yet the umpire, after consulting with the referee, allowed the point. That cost us at the end of the day.

"That's what happens when you go to away grounds, you don't tend to get many breaks.

"I don't want to be seen to have sour grapes here but the bottom line is that shouldn't be happening in a Division 1 game. It was a bizarre decision."

"I don't want to be seen to have sour grapes here but the bottom line is that shouldn't be happening in a Division 1 game.

Outside of pre-season,