'No Way Was It A Red': Marc Ó Sé Baffled By Cork Sending Off Vs Kerry

Kerry needed extra-time to fend off a resilient effort from Cork in the Munster Senior Football Championship.

Widely fancied going into the fixture, Kerry were pushed to their limit against their border rivals and would ultimately hang on for a 3-21 to 1-25 victory.

Paudie Clifford was dismissed for what was judged to be a high tackle when Kerry had the initiative, and Cork, to their credit, fought back valiantly to force extra-time.

A thunderbolt of a strike from Kerry's Joe O'Connor in extra-time proved the difference, Cork putting a couple of two-point efforts wide of the post in the dying stages.

Joe O'Connor buries it - no stopping that one! 💥

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Cork would also finish the 14 men but their red card was considerably more contentious, Sean Brady judged by the linesman to have shouldered O'Connor in the head when replays showed otherwise.

Sean Brady was sent off for this shoulder on Joe O'Connor after the linesman intervened to say there had been shoulder-to-head contact.

The replay suggested otherwise.

"Not much in that, definitely into the chest," Marc Ó Sé said on co-commentary after seeing the replay. pic.twitter.com/fCMWWoZbH7

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Marc Ó Sé shared his assertion on GAA+ that the tackle from Brady was 'definitely into the chest'.

Not much in that, definitely into the chest...it's a yellow. no not a hope [of deserving a red]... often the problem is where one team is down to 14 the ref will level it up."

Post-match, he would expand on what he believed was a stroke of luck for his former side.

'In his defence, he'd probably say he's trying to get the ball. It was dangerous but in no way was it a red card but it had a huge bearing on the game.

"The sending off was a bit harsh. Sometimes it's like for like you know, even it up and that's how it looked. It was a yellow card, into the chest. I don't know what the ref was thinking, that it was a punch or what. But it was harsh, and it settled Kerry afterwards."

Fellow analyst and ex-Galway footballer Michael Meehan shared Ó Sé's perspective, adding: "It's a yellow card... I know they're trying to be really protective of players, and rightly so, but the hand goes low across the ball, the shoulder goes in here, it's borderline but I would have thought it's a yellow card."

There was less discussion regarding Paudie Clifford's red card after the game, but Kerry manager Jack O'Connor did share his view that the dismissal was 'harsh enough'.