Sean Currie: 'To be honest, at the time I couldn't really see, I thought it might have gone over'

Irish Examiner

29-04-2025

Dublin's Sean Currie has acknowledged that his ghost goal against Wexford in the Leinster SHC last weekend shouldn't have counted.
But the Sky Blues' leading scorer in the rollercoaster 3-26 to 4-19 win reckons it didn't make a difference to the overall outcome of the game.
Currie was at the centre of controversy in the 50th minute when a penalty that he took was blocked by Wexford goalkeeper Mark Fanning.
Replays appeared to show the ball not crossing the goal-line though referee Michael Kennedy felt that it did and awarded it, levelling the game at that stage.
Buoyed by the goal, Dublin added two more in the subsequent minutes from John Hetherton as they turned the screw to secure back-to-back wins. Asked if the ball was over the line, Currie shook his head.
"No, it wasn't," he said at a media event organised by Dublin GAA sponsors Staycity Aparthotels. "To be honest, at the time I couldn't really see, I thought it might have gone over. I thought it just about went over but obviously seeing the replays after I could tell that Mark stopped it just before it went over the line.
"I think we were knocking on the door for a while, so I don't think it made too much of a difference to the outcome of the game, to be honest, because I think we were knocking on the door for goals for quite a while. But yeah, it was a bit of luck. You need a bit of luck sometimes to get over the line."
The GAA currently uses Hawk-Eye score detection technology at Croke Park and Semple Stadium though they don't adjudicate on goal-line debates. Currie said he wouldn't favour any form of VAR technology being introduced for similar situations.
"I wouldn't want to see it in, I know it obviously suited me there at the weekend but it's definitely not something I'd want to see," said the All-Ireland club winner with Na Fianna. "I don't think it would work in the GAA. We don't want to slow the game down. Mistakes can happen, whether it's on the goal-line or out the pitch, mistakes will always happen. I think it's hard for referees and umpires to make that split-second decision but I'd rather they make the decision on the pitch than slowing the game down and getting video assistance involved."
Currie also played down concerns over the playability of the Parnell Park surface. Sections of the pitch appear to have been damaged and were extremely discoloured for last weekend's game. Wexford manager Keith Rossiter said it looked like someone had 'come in with a gallon of Roundup' weedkiller and sprayed it on the turf.
Wednesday evening's scheduled Leinster U20 final tie between Meath and Louth has been shifted from Parnell Park to Newbridge.
"It played fine," said Currie. "I think you saw that the standard of the game was really high. I don't think the pitch affected that."