Carlow's Mick Condon tells Seán Moran why he believes smallercounties are getting a raw deal

Carlow manager Mick Condon has severely criticised the standard of refereeing and questioned whether smaller counties are being fairly treated.

Condon made his feelings known yesterday despite having watched his team deliver the biggest upset so far of the pre-season with a strong comeback to defeat a virtually full-strength Dublin.

"In the first half we had two points ruled out and one of them was at least two foot inside the post. But the umpire gave it wide. At half-time, 11 to five would have been a fair reflection because the wind was worth a few points.

"I feel weaker counties like Carlow don't get treated in an impartial and fair way. It's easier to give decisions to a stronger team because it doesn't cause any fuss.

"If Dublin had won yesterday it would have been matter-of-fact and no one would have taken any notice. At the end we should have been four up instead of two and two points is always a difficult kind of lead."

Condon believes his dissatisfaction is shared by others and denies he is being unconstructive in his criticism given that the GAA has to find and train referees for an ever-expanding intercounty schedule.

"I'm not the only one who thinks this way and I'm not just giving out for the sake of it. But there are too many inexperienced referees and when you think of the preparation that goes into a team nowadays, it's not acceptable to have it all threatened by bad decisions.

"I'm not against blooding referees, but I really do see smaller counties getting a raw deal when referees take the easy way out.

"Even good referees will make the odd mistake, but that's only human and I've no complaint about that, but at least half a dozen decisions against us (on Sunday) were ridiculous."

To counter the problems he believes are blighting the game Condon says that more use should be made of the linesmen in matches and that they should be given powers to advise referees and, where they judge it appropriate, to overrule umpires.

"Maybe putting two refs on the field - an experienced one and an inexperienced one - would work, but rather than that I think the linesmen should have more of a role.

"They're intercounty referees after all and should be in a position to make calls. The umpire's decision on the points (on Sunday) could have been overruled.

"Nobody minds a mistake as long as there's fairness and if there was some way of overriding bad decisions, that would help.

"Seven or eight bad decisions could have cost us the match and if that happens in the league then you've lost the points."

On the playing front, injury casts a slight shadow with full back Brian Farrell likely to be missing for a number of weeks with a broken arm, sustained on Sunday, but Condon is naturally pleased with the win.

"When you're building a team it's great to get a victory against one of the stronger counties. In the second half we got stuck in and threw everything at them and they didn't have an answer."

Next weekend there will be a semi-final tilt with Westmeath, managed by Páidí Ó Sé against whom Condon played as a Kildare corner forward in the 1970s.

It represents an encouraging start to the year even if the county will remember that winning the O'Byrne Cup two years ago didn't throw open the gates to the big time.

In a county where two clubs, Eire Óg and O'Hanrahans, have won Leinster championships, there has been an occasional reluctance on the part of some players to get involved with the county.

But, this season, Condon says that he has "95 per cent of the players we want" available. The additional depth shows.

"We had to introduce five substitutes for injury," he says about the defeat of Dublin, "but whereas last year we'd have struggled to do that, this time we had the players".

In a few weeks the National Football League starts with Carlow at home to Monaghan, who deposed Armagh in the championship last May. The redrafted Division Two A will be a tough task.

"Monaghan, Donegal, Offaly, Roscommon," intones Condon. "They're very strong teams and realistically it will be very tough to come out of our section.

"So it's very encouraging to beat a very strong Dublin team because when we come up against the likes of Monaghan, we won't be overawed."