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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Darragh Culhane

GAA fans fume over 'anti Ulster bias' from TV pundits

GAA fans have fumed over what they described as 'anti Ulster bias' after pundits slammed the recent final between Donegal and Derry.

Derry won their first Ulster title since 1998 when they beat Donegal after extra time in what has been regarded as a drab affair by many.

Both sides played a distinctly risk adverse style which was summed up by Donegal failing to venture forward for a winning score towards the end of normal time.

And Pat Spillane was quick to quash any hopes of Derry winning an All-Ireland title, saying: "Can we take away anything from the provincial finals? Obviously, you can't take anything away from the Munster final and Leinster finals.

"While we're reading a lot into the Ulster final, to be honest I didn't rate Donegal. I think this is a Donegal team that are very much in decline. Very, very much in decline.

"I saw Marc Ó Sé today, saying he had it (1.) Dublin (2.) Derry (3.) Kerry. Now, I wouldn't agree with Marc.

"Are Derry going to win the All-Ireland? No, they're not. Very simply, I'll tell you why they won't. They just don't have a forward line of the quality that's required to win an All-Ireland.

"They won't win an All-Ireland. They haven't that top quality forward to deliver an All-Ireland. (Shane) McGuigan is a good forward. But if you go back to Donegal (in 2012) when Jimmy (McGuinness) and Rory won with them - he had Murphy, he had McFadden, he had shooters. Derry don't have those top quality forwards to win. That's my belief."

And a number of social media users disagreed with Spillane, saying there was 'Anti-Ulster bias'.

One social media user said: "Never underestimate the Ulster men"

While another added: "BBC pundits love the game and know players inside out. RTE punditry is lazy, clichéd and Div1 centric. You'd nearly think they have an anti Ulster bias"

While another added: "Ulster title may not have been pretty football, but its good to see a new team coming through the ranks. Well done Derry in winning your Ulster Title."

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