Henry Shefflin sympathetic to Tipp star but explains why red was correct call

One of the earliest red cards we have ever seen.

It was hard to see initially what had happened with the cameras focused on the centre of the field, before the game stopped after an early point for Tipp.

As it turned out, Cork’s Seán O’Donoghue had been struck by 20-year old Tipperary star Darragh McCarthy, who was subsequently sent off by referee Johnny Murphy.

The youngster was visibly upset after what could turn out to be a huge moment in the Munster SHC, with the Rebels hammering the Premier County, 4-26 to 0-24.

At half-time, Kilkenny legend Henry Shefflin explained why the red was the correct call, but was also sympathetic to Darragh McCarthy.

He said: "It's a big call before the game starts as you said.

"The first thing I'll say is that look, to be fair, Darragh McCarthy has had a wonderful year, but there is striking action here.

"And as well as that, I think Darragh was so hyped up that he was the one who kind of instigated it.

"A lot of times we see the defenders come out and hit the forwards, but Darragh actually went for him he was so hyped up.

"We can see at the top left of the screen, Nicky O'Toole is the linesman, you can see him reaching for his mic to tell Johnny that this is after happening.

"And by the letter of the law.... there is striking action there.

"But look, to be fair, that chap is going to learn a massive amount, he's had a wonderful year, it's so disappointing for us all to see a player, for the crowd, for the whole occasion, but look the rules are the rules."