Limerick Goalkeeper Nickie Quaid revealed the referee’s reasoning for not giving him a black card against Clare in the All-Ireland semi-final.

The Treaty County booked a meeting with Galway in the All-Ireland decider after beating Clare at Croke Park, a game in which much of the coverage was on a controversial black card call made by referee Thomas Walsh.

Quaid came out of his goal and ploughed through Clare’s Peter Duggan, with the ball ending up in the back of the net, but referee Thomas Walsh called it back and awarded a penalty to Clare for the incident, much to the dismay of the Banner players and fans.

Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid fouls Peter Duggan of Clare. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid fouls Peter Duggan of Clare. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

Nickie Quaid unbelievably avoided a black card, only receiving a yellow, with the majority of the Croke Park crowd letting their feelings be heard.

Tony Kelly rifled the subsequent penalty home, but the decision to leave Quaid on the pitch seemed the wrong one.

It would have been difficult to see Limerick coming back from that deficit in the closing stages if they had been reduced to 14 men for the ten minutes that followed the incident.

Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid fouls Peter Duggan of Clare. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid fouls Peter Duggan of Clare. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The Limerick man can certainly count himself lucky to have avoided a black card, and as it turns out, referee Thomas Walsh explained to him at the time why he had just about avoided being sent to the sin bin.

‘I suppose I was just out and committed to the ball; I thought he was going to pull on it,’ Quaid said. ‘Clearly, I obviously tripped him. I think he didn’t have possession of the ball. That’s what Thomas Walsh said to me, and it was a yellow card. I didn’t really know the rule, to be honest with you. I was delighted; I was lucky for that.’

The rules state that a black card should be awarded if someone denies a goal-scoring opportunity, but because Peter Duggan did not have the ball, Nickie Quaid luckily escaped with a yellow card, and many people have called for the rule to change.