It did not look like Maurice Deegan was going to black card Lee Keegan when he first arrived on the scene. The referee appeared to be the only man in a 50-metre radius that wasn’t flapped.
For the second time in 90 seconds – the only two times in the first half – Diarmuid Connolly had got the jump on Keegan. Both times, remorselessly, he made it count.
This was the Keegan that had glided forward, left Connolly trailing and rammed home a glorious All-Ireland Final goal. It was the fifth time he had come up against Connolly – the defender was leading the attacker 1-4 to 0-3 in head-to-head scoring.
Connolly landed a jab with a sublime point to get that personal tally up to 0-4 but the knock-out blow was not far away.
Rob Hennelly’s kick-out put Mayo under the pump, Connolly got clear and Keegan made his grab. The Dublin forward sprung up as quickly as he went down – brandishing an imaginary black card. Deegan took his time before the real deal materialised.
Keegan had bossed the battles. Connolly had won the war. He’d pocket another winners’ medal just over an hour later.
On Monday’s GAA Hour, SportsJOE GAA Editor Colm Parkinson was in no doubt as to who came out on top in the latest chapter of modern GAA’s greatest rivalry. Parkinson said:
“Diarmuid Connolly sewed him up, good and proper. Yes, Keegan pulled his jersey… Connolly went to ground and then made it look like he was pulled down. Connolly then started putting an imaginary black card in Deegan’s face; completely out of order, you’d have to say.
“Yes, his jersey was pulled. Was it enough for him to be falling down? No. He threw himself to the ground and he sold Keegan up the river.”
Parkinson disagreed with Conan Doherty’s argument that Keegan had exerted enough pressure to bring the Dublin forward down. He continued:
“Connolly is six-foot-two, he’s fourteen and a half stone. His jersey got barely pulled and he has gone onto the ground.
“It was a professional foul; it was a soccer-style ‘I’m sewing my man up here’ and he got Keegan sent off. And more power to him.”
Former Dublin player Senan Connell, who was a guest on the show, remarked, “That’s why I love him.”
Thousands upon thousands of Dublin fans will agree with the sentiment.
The GAA Hour pays tribute to the unbeatable Dubs and ask where did it all go wrong for Mayo in the All-Ireland final replay. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
