Kilkenny Club Delegates very much opposed to penalties

The introduction of the split-season and a more congested fixture schedule in recent years has seen the penalty shootout phenomenon at club level rise to prominence over the last few years.

In its first year back in 2020, the clash of Dicksboro and O’Loughlin Gaels in the senior league final was the first game to be decided in that fashion in the county and it wasn’t long before a major championship title was also decided via penalties when Lisdowney got the better of Thomastown in the intermediate decider later that summer.

Two years ago Windgap beat Dicksboro in a premier junior championship semi-final while earlier this year Danesfort also needed the shootout to see off Rower Inistioge in the Intermediate Championship.

All noteworthy occasions in their own right but it now seems that the dramatic ending to the game could be on its last legs in Kilkenny at least.

Of the 13 recommendations that were up for discussion at the annual convention, six of them centred around getting rid of penalties as a method of finishing the game on the day.

Tullaroan, Young Irelands, Rower Inistioge, Shamrocks Ballyhale, Barrow Rangers and arguably most significantly of all Lisdowney, who won that intermediate title in 2020 via this structure, all protested the continued use of this medium to settle games.

Young Irelands were one of the main protestors of the current rule on the night.

“We just think a penalty shootout is totally unfair even from a health and wellbeing point of view as it’s just an amateur game and we’d be definitely against it,” they said. “We feel that after 20 minutes of extra-time, a replay should be played.

“Even if the game is on a Saturday or Sunday, you can play again midweek particularly during the summer months and we’d totally be against it as it stands.”

The Rower-Inistioge were fully in agreement and added to the debate.

“We think it’s very unfair on the player that misses the deciding penalty and we think that a replay is the answer,” they said.

“The reality is that games needing a replay after extra-time is very small so we think it’s a fairly common thought that should be changes.”

Vice-chair and head of fixtures Jim Fennelly did heed something of a warning to those in attendance that it can sometimes be difficult to fit replays in due to time constraints around the current fixture list.

The discussion will now move on to the opening County Board meeting in 2025 to be heard further.