Daithí Regan recalls moment he thought doctor was going to hit him a box in incident that ended his career

Regan's Offaly career ended with a red card against Kilkenny in 1999

Daithí Regan has recalled the time he punched Andy Comerford during 1999 Leinster Final between Offaly and Kilkenny, and how he thought the opposition doctor was going to attack him.

Regan was famously sent off for the punch at Croke Park, in the final match of his career, and despite making up with Comerford quickly after, he says his team-mates repeatedly slagged him for the incident.

Regan, who won one All-Ireland and four Leinster titles with Offaly, sat down with SportsJOE to reflect on his career in the latest episode of Milestones, now on the JOE ie YouTube channel.

"I was lucky I didn’t get jailed! I hit him in front of the Kilkenny dugout and it was like slow motion. I vividly remember the Kilkenny doctor, and he looked a real gentleman. I remember after I hit Comerford, he jumped out of the dugout, he stepped over Comerford, and it was like slow motion. I thought; ‘I don’t believe it, a doctor is going to hit me a box.’ 

"I deserved what I got. That’s the last time I was on the pitch at Croke Park with Offaly. I didn’t know it then and then, but it was the end of my career. I retired after that, on a red card. I get a slagging for it to this day.

"I met Andy afterwards and we shook hands as you should do. We golfed the following day, went drinking the following day, and somewhere in Laois we watched it, they were replaying the match, they kept replaying it in the pub, and they thought it was hilarious at my expense.

"Not the way I would have chosen to go, and not something I am proud of, but it’s part and parcel of a career."