Westmeath hurling manager Michael Ryan has refused to take matters into his own hands after an umpire wrongly awarded Limerick a goal on Sunday.

With the SH Qualifier at Mullingar hanging in the balance, the Treaty County were awarded a disputed goal in the second minute of the second half, but television replays suggest that the sliothar flew wide of the post. It was a huge turning point but Lake County boss Ryan has ruled out chasing a rematch:

"Mistakes will always be made. Managers make mistakes, players make them and referees make them. In fairness, the referee had an excellent game and there's nobody more disappointed than the umpire himself and the referee because everybody strives to be as good as they can be. But it's tough enough to take.

"I'm not going to shoot the poor umpire," the Waterford man says in The Irish Daily Star. "It's disappointing but there's no point ranting, raving or screaming about it. What can you do?

"Our goalkeeper realised it. I felt there was something suspicious about it. I was a good bit away from it but it didn't look right. I'm sure Westmeath County Board wouldn't be too happy if somebody suggested it was their net. Not alone that, but Brian Gavin checked the nets before the game.

"It had an effect on the game. I'm not saying we would have won the game. It gave them a cushion that we found hard to overcome. We spoke about the need to put in a really good ten minutes at the start of the second half and then your best laid plans are destroyed.

"It went up to five, then six or seven. Then we came back to three, but it definitely would have made it a very interesting finish."

Tweet

Most Read Stories