It’s very easy to side with the minnows in the heat of battle.
Stephen Cluxton shipped a huge challenge – a reckless one – that earned Longford’s James McGivney a straight red card in the Leinster final and, for the first time since he was sent off against Armagh in 2003, Dublin finished a championship game without one of the most iconic goalkeepers in history.
The first half substitution of the Parnells man deprived the Dubs of their captain for the rest of a foregone conclusion but, after the blow to his lower back, it remains to be seen how it will impact the rest of their season.
After Maurice Deegan flashed a red card to the Longford full forward, the reaction was just desperation.
It was a big enough ask for them as it was but to do it with 14 men virtually ended the game there and then. And for what? A late tackle?
That’s, at least, the line they tried to run.
The reality, of course, is that the collision deserved a red card and it’s lucky Cluxton wasn’t more seriously hurt.
And, on The GAA Hour on Monday, Colm Parkinson was having no talk that Deegan should’ve empathised with Longford’s situation.
“For me, this is a red card,” he said.
“Cluxton’s off his feet, he had a chance to pull out. If he catches Cluxton on the legs there, Cluxton comes down on his head. It’s dangerous.
“It could result in a serious injury and I think they should be stamping out the likes of that when a player is in the air. You’ve no protection when you’re in mid-air like that.”
Cian Ward tried to see it from the opposition point of view, if only very briefly.
“I could see the temptation from McGivney’s perspective,” he laughed.
“He had plenty of time to pull out and he was a massive loss to Longford. Hopefully Cluxton isn’t too badly hurt and he’s able to play the next day.
“Often times a referee just gives a yellow card in that scenario. Particularly when it’s the underdog against the big boys.”
But both Wooly and Ward agreed that the David v Goliath thing should’ve meant nothing in that decision – which it didn’t, in fairness to the referee.
“You see, that’s your emotion,” Parkinson said.
“Emotion makes you say that [refs normally give a yellow]. I’m the same as you, ‘it’ll ruin the game and he could’ve given him a yellow’, but that’s not the right way to do it.
“I’ve no problem with a late hit, but not when Cluxton was up in the air.”
Listen to the full debate below.
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