There has been renewed focus on the replay debate after last Sunday’s hurling showpiece went to an additional 20 minutes before Clare eventually emerged victorious over Cork.
The prospect of another stalemate now looms large, given the frequently inseparable recent history of Galway and Armagh, this Sunday’s two All-Ireland football finalists. And McDonnell, an All-Ireland history-maker in 2002, believes players should be given a break in such a scenario.
“You only have to look back at the hurling final last weekend. I think both teams deserved another day out,” he argued. “The supporters certainly deserved another day out after witnessing the epic final that it was. I think it’s unfair on teams, given the two-week turnaround for a final, that they have to go to extra-time if there’s a draw. I think a replay would probably be a more favourable outcome for both teams and also for the supporters.”
The bookmakers are offering unusually tight prices on Sunday’s SFC decider finishing level after 70 minutes, quoting odds of 6/1 and even as short as 11/2.
Clearly, recent head-to-heads have influenced their thinking. Galway’s 2022 quarter-final success only came after extra-time and a penalty shoot-out; Armagh gained revenge with an injury-time winning point in the 2023 group stages and, in this year’s round-robin rematch, Kieran McGeeney’s men battled back from five down at one stage to earn a table-topping draw deep in stoppage-time.
However, former Galway manager Kevin Walsh proffered a different perspective to McDonnell on the merit of All-Ireland replays, harking back to his own playing days when the Tribesmen lost a final sequel to Kerry in 2000.
“I can totally see why that [hurling final] should have been a replay – for people watching on, for players getting tired, for injuries, for everything,” Walsh acknowledged.
“From a player’s point of view, we played in a replay and leaving the result apart – we lost it – that last two weeks before the replay, the one memory I would have is that it was just dead. That excitement was kind of gone and it was very hard to get back up for it.
“I’m not saying that was the reason for the result. Personally, as a player, I’d like to finish on the day. That’s just me, but I can totally see why the whole country are roaring that it shouldn’t be.”
Moreover, even though there can be no penalty shoot-out next Sunday if Armagh and Galway are still level after extra-time, Walsh wouldn’t be totally averse to that option either.
“Nobody wants to lose on penalties and because it’s coming from the soccer background of how to decide a game, maybe we’re all roaring and shouting that that shouldn’t be on penalties,” the two-time All-Ireland winner surmised.
“Things can go with you and against you. You’re still at 50-50 on penalties. You’ve gone that distance. I would nearly rather it go to penalties than something in the last two minutes to go against you, a refereeing decision or desperate bad luck or something that might be just wrong.”
