Early red card a tough lesson for McCarthy and Tipp - McGrath

Former Tipperary star Shane McGrath reckons the red card received by Darragh McCarthy in the opening minute of the Premier men’s defeat to Cork was a tough lesson for the young forward and Liam Cahill’s team.

In what was just his second championship appearance for Tipp, McCarthy received his marching orders after jabbing his hurley into Cork opponent Sean O'Donoghue in an incident which occurred before the throw-in at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Cahill’s side would go on to lose to the Rebels on a 4-27 to 0-24 scoreline and, speaking on the RTE GAA Podcast, described the sending off as a “massive lesson” for Tipp as well as a warning to all inter-county hurlers.

"What Darragh did was wrong and he rightly got punished for it," said the two-time All-Ireland winner. "You can see the striking action. It was a deserved red card. He's a young guy. It will be a big learning for him.

"But it is going on the whole time. Some players are getting caught and some aren't. Darragh just got caught. Tipp probably went at it something similar the week before with Limerick, there was a lot of off-the-ball stuff.

"It was very evident what was going on. Lads went in, and you're trying to lay down a marker but laying down a marker and your team going down to 14 are two different things.

"I don’t think it will go on again. I think it’s a massive lesson learned for Tipp."