Brosnan: Masterson should not have been gagged
Ben Brosnan says his Wexford team-mate Anthony Masterson should not have been forced to apologise by the GAA after his comments about referee Derek Fahy in the wake of Wexford's All-Ireland SFC qualifier loss to Limerick.
Goalkeeper Masterson was stinging in his criticism of the Longford referee when he was interviewed after the game in July. He was subsequently asked by the GAA to apologise for his actions.
Brosnan, who today picked up the GAA-GPA Footballer of the Month award for May, insists that Masterson should not have been forced into a climbdown.
"It was straight after the match and his blood was still boiling," explained the IT Carlow student. "I don't think he should have had to apologise, to tell you the truth. It is his own opinion.
"I know what he said did go a bit far, but it was still straight after the match and you couldn't have expected much more from the man the way we got beaten and the way it happened."
It was the second time that Masterson had shown that he really wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to Wexford football.
Following their Leinster SFC final defeat to Dublin, the Slaneysiders' custodian was inconsolable at the full-time whistle. "He puts everything out on the pitch and into training," added the sharpshooting Brosnan.
Meanwhile, Jason Ryan confirmed last night that he wants to continue as Wexford manager and Brosnan is delighted that the Waterford native is staying put.
"That's great news for Wexford. If Jason had left and we had to go looking for someone else it maybe would have left us two or three years back.
"It's great that he is on for a fifth year. He is hurting just as much as the players about last year's defeat and hopefully we can burst on from that next year.
"Jason has an awful lot to do with bringing Wexford forward and it was great for our Under-21ss this year also (winning the Leinster title).
"Wexford football is definitely on the way up and staying at a good standard. We probably gave Dublin one of the best shots this year apart from Kerry in the All-Ireland final - we were probably the closest to beating them."
