Only in Cavan...Umpire shot in the foot during hurling match

I dont know

http://www.joe.ie/gaa/gaa-news/only-in-cavanumpire-shot-in-the-foot-during-hurling-match-0017979-1?_ft_s_obj=5&_ft_s_edge=1&_ft_s_prnt=28&_ft_ft_story_name=AggregatedStreamStoryPostedItem&_ft_mf_story_key=10150476428941154&_ft_object_id=311035472259251&_ft_mf_objid=311035472259251&_ft_viewstate_id=-8695321235437428978&_ft_sub_level=mid&_ft_sbj_type=friend&_ft_is_boulder=1&_ft_src=10&_ft_qid=5678357536910600350&_ft_sty=263&_ft_actrs=542236460%2C1671684877%2C1848517612&_ft_filter=live&_ft_substories=3&_ft_fbid=311035472259251%2C297650396923098%2C186663964756018

Only in Cavan...Umpire shot in the foot during hurling match
GAA officials have often shot themselves in the foot in a metaphorical sense, but rarely have we heard of an umpire being shot while in the line of duty. Until now that is.

At a time when the treatment of match officials is under major scrutiny following the attack on Mayo official Liam Devenney after the Connacht club final at the weekend, it will dismay many to hear that yet another volunteer has been subjected to a vicious attack, but thankfully, this one was accidental.

At least we think it was.

Barry Clarke was acting as an umpire during the Cavan Minor Hurling Final between Ballymachugh and Mullahoran at Kingspan/Breffni Park at the weekend, when he was blasted on the foot by an unsuspecting hunter with a wayward shot.

Players and spectators at the county ground in Cavan heard two loud shots fired during the second half of the game and after the second blast, Clarke looked down to see pellets at his feet and realised he had indeed been shot.

“I could feel something whizzing past the bottom of my trousers and then the next thing was I could feel something hitting my foot, Clarke told The Star.

“We could see a man not that far away from us with a gun and a little brown and white dog. He looked like he was out shooting pheasants – but he was too close for comfort as far as I was concerned.

“About 10 minutes after we heard the first shot, there was another bang and the small gate behind us rattle. I looked down and I could see pellets a few feet away from me.

“The ricochet from the gate had struck me on the foot. Luckily I was wearing big, strong boots at the time so apart from being a bit sore, it was only the boots that got a doing.”

Courageously, rather than wave the white flag as he would have been entitled to do under the circumstances, Clarke carried on doing his umpire duties, much to the admiration of fellow umpire Pat Clarke, who revealed that the accidental sniper was told in no uncertain terms that he and his weapon of choice were not welcome around those parts.

“We looked around to see the man doing the shooting and some of the players from both teams let him know where to go with his gun,” Clarke added.

Baffled Cavan County Board chiefs are to seek the assistance of the Gardai in investigating the matter after it was included in the referee’s match report.

"The referee’s report confirms the incident took place and it’ll be discussed at county board level,” said Cavan GAA secretary Liam McCabe.

“In the meantime, I’ll be in touch with Gardai to see what they have to say on the matter.”

As appropriate as it was that the Gardai are involved, we think this is a job for the real men in white coats.

To all budding umpires out there, the lesson is clear. If you are going to don the oversized white jacket in future, wear big strong boots. Because you never know what raving mad hunting lunatic with a gun might be lurking around the corner

Would you guys be hunting near built up areas often? Just wondering, from memory Breffni Park is close to the town, in a fairly built up area, although I think the far side of the ground may be farmland

meathstevie

I do hunt in built up areas, all around the edges of the town where I live in fact. If you use a bit of common sense there should be no problem.

kildare.17hmr

some of my ground is near built up areas never had a problem just have to always be aware of what way your shooting.

Very exaggerated story i think

kenneths

"Because you never know what raving mad hunting lunatic with a gun might be lurking around the corner "


nice one...... they class us as all as lunatics now aswell

Glensman

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

some of my ground is near built up areas never had a problem just have to always be aware of what way your shooting.

Very exaggerated story i think

+1

cavan shooter

Breffni park is in the middle on the way into cavan at tractor motors. Must get the celt this week

garv123

So he got peppered from a shotgun which was probably fired up at a angle?

I expected him to be shot in the foot with a rifle.

And since when did snipers start using shotguns?

crappy written article, but the fella shooting was a fecking fool if he was so close to the game that players were telling him to feck off.
He must have been walking around the pitch?

lefthooker

"Because you never know what raving mad hunting lunatic with a gun might be lurking around the corner "

You also never know what raving mad lunatic with a keyboard might be lurking behind his/her computer screen.
As always the pen is mightier than the sword and a few choice phrases cause a lot more damage. And hysteria always sells more than the truth and facts

Birdnuts

garv123 wrote: »

.
He must have been walking around the pitch?

Sounds more like an irate fan rather then a hunter - there is increasing problems with violence at many GAA matches due to the poor standard of referring and officiating, so nothing would suprise me(I say this as a long suffering Kildare supporter!!:()

Cass

Its the most hyped up, contradicting, self serving, mis-informed piece of crap of an article written by someone with no working knowledge of firearms, ballistics, etc.

A ricochet from a shotgun hitting a gate then striking a man in the foot? After 80 yards a shotgun is pretty much less useful than a pellet gun.

The ref. "seen" the pellets at his feet. Good eyesight. :rolleyes: What a tropper for carrying on. :rolleyes: If they impacted at his feet they were out of steam and would carry the same force as a bee flying into you.

The big strong boots protected him? Football boots. It only hit the bottom 2 inches of the foot as thats all football boots cover. See above for my thoughts on that.

Sniper? With a shotgun. Absolute ignorance of fireams shining brightly through.

Lastly even the most retarded of hunters with no experience, and feck all ability would know not to fire in the direction of a crowd/a noise from a crowd or one he could see.

This article is pure hype, and based on speculation, and exaggerated story telling. Like the man that has a bump in his car. By the time he gets to the pub that night he has "survived" a fireball after his car turned over 6 times. :rolleyes:

Tackleberrywho

lefthooker wrote: »

You also never know what raving mad lunatic with a keyboard might be lurking behind his/her computer screen.
As always the pen is mightier than the sword and a few choice phrases cause a lot more damage. And hysteria always sells more than the truth and facts

Paper never refused ink.

Wolfhillbilly

What surprised me most about the story was that there was a hurling match in Cavan.