You can’t hit men in the jaw and get away with it.
There’s a crisis going on in soccer at present where they’re trying to change the culture but not clamping down enough to help that shift.
If you don’t give people like Gareth Bale, for example, a red card when he comes in late, high, studs up and straight into the leg of another player, you’re not making it clear to people like Neil Taylor that this will absolutely not be tolerated.
In Gaelic football, if you don’t punish every cynical foul with a black card, you’re not really giving everyone an incentive to completely rule cynicism out of their games.
If you don’t punish every apparent punch to the jaw with a red, you’ll get more than you should. So the GAA have acted.
Tyrone star Mattie Donnelly has been dealt a one-match suspension following an incident at the end of the defeat to Mayo on Sunday.
The midfielder (or half back or half forward or full forward – however Mickey’s feeling) will miss the Red Hands’ last game of the league campaign which just so happens to be a trip to Kerry with Tyrone’s ambitions of a Division One final on the line.
It's all to play for on the last day and @ConanDoherty has worked every eventuality out for every county involved https://t.co/S9wS3VHnPz
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 29, 2017
Donnelly was involved in an incident with Aidan O’Shea after the loss to Mayo in Omagh and he appeared to strike the Breaffy man in the face as players wrestled and tried to separate the two.
The flashpoint was captured during TG4’s brilliant coverage of an otherwise brilliant match.
The 2016 All-Star footballer looked to catch O’Shea as the pair came together.
Now, he will miss the trip to Kerry when Tyrone really need a win to give themselves their best chance of making the final.
