GAELIC GAMES 2011 SFC:A HEAD-BUTTING, a stamping, two incidents of elbowing in the face and a "bit of needle" off-the-ball that will result in an eight-week ban for Kerry's Tomás Ó Sé: hardly the most respectable disciplinary record on the opening weekend of the championship proper.
The outcome of these offences will also show up the discrepancies of the GAA’s disciplinary system – but, ultimately, Ó Sé’s eight-week ban could prove the most costly, at least as far as Kerry are concerned and their chances of defending their Munster championship title.
It’s not yet clear what offence Ó Sé will be reported for by referee Maurice Condon for the off-the-ball incident 33 minutes into Kerry’s 11-point win over Tipperary on Sunday – but it was definitely a straight red card, Ó Sé’s second such offence within the 48-week timeframe, and thus bringing a doubling of the the likely four-week suspension.
It means Ó Sé is set to be sidelined until July 16th, thus missing the Munster semi-final against Limerick on June 4th, and the Munster final on July 3rd, assuming Kerry get that far.
In fact, he won’t be able to play again until either the final round of the qualifiers or the All-Ireland quarter-final, depending on which route Kerry take.
It is unlikely Kerry will even consider appealing the red card given the lack of video evidence. The incident wasn’t captured by the RTÉ cameras at Fitzgerald Stadium, and all that was seen was Condon showing Ó Sé the straight red after consulting with his linesman. Tipperary midfielder Hugh Coghlan was seen grounded, having apparently been struck in some way.
“Obviously there was a bit of needle between the two of them,” said Kerry manager Jack O’Connor. “I didn’t see it, but the linesman did see something. He said it to the referee and that’s the end of it . . . I think it’s the within the timescale of 48 weeks and there’s a good chance he’ll be out for two months.”
Ó Sé went straight to the dugout with his face in his hands, obviously aware of the implications.
The wing back was also red-carded, retrospectively, in the Munster final against Limerick on July 4th of last summer – 46 weeks previous, to be exact. On that occasion the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) reviewed video evidence which suggested Ó Sé had made several attempts to elbow Limerick’s Stephen Kelly in the head; they handed him a four-week ban which forced Ó Sé to miss the All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Down.
Under new rules adopted at Congress last month, the CCCC can no longer review an incident once the referee was seen to have dealt with it – although this rule won’t save Clare forward Graham Kelly from a lengthy suspension arising from an incident late in their Munster football quarter-final against Cork.
Kelly was shown a second yellow on 70 minutes, and thus a red card, after an incident that also resulted in a yellow card for Cork substitute John Miskella. However, Kelly then head-butted Miskella, in full view of the referee, before heading to the sideline – and this incident can be reviewed by the CCCC, most likely deeming it a category three offence, which includes “striking or attempting to strike with the head”, and which carries an eight-week suspension.
The two incidents of elbowing in the face occurred at Portlaoise in the double-bill of Leinster football first-round ties, but with differing consequences. With 10 minutes remaining in Kildare against Wicklow, Austin O’Malley, formerly of Mayo, was shown a straight red when his elbowing of Kildare defender Andrew MacLochlainn was seen by the linesman; substitute referee Syl Doyle of Wexford was consulted, and with that he had no hesitation in displaying the straight red.
In Laois against Longford, Billy Sheehan was caught elbowing Longford’s Paul Barden, although he only received a yellow card.
Finally, late on in Leitrim’s surprise win over Sligo, there was a straight red card for Sligo centre back Brian Curran after he was caught stamping on Leitrim full back Ronan Gallagher, again in an incident brought to the attention of the referee by his linesman.
Curran could also be facing an eight-week ban, depending on what the CCCC propose, and will thus miss the first round of the qualifiers on June 25th.
Leitrim’s Emlyn Mulligan, who was red-carded for a second booking in injury time along with Sligo’s Eamonn O’Hara, will be free to line-out for their Connacht semi-final against Roscommon on June 12th.
