Sincerest apologies, Kevin McLoughlin.
For even hinting that he was pretending to be hurt or trying to con the referee or making more of the Bill Maher incident than what it was, we all owe the Mayo man an apology.
Listen, it wasn’t a full-on punch with just the fist, it was almost a half-push, but the red-carded Tipperary half back swung back and then at McLoughlin and connected with his gut and you can’t and shouldn’t do it.
It wasn’t so vicious that you’d have given out so much if the ref had just dished out a yellow and it was a reaction to a coming-together just seconds before but, by the letter of the law, it’s a red card offence and the officials and the victim involved don’t deserve to be criticised.
Why didn’t The Sunday Game highlight this footage? It’s THEIR footage.
The post-game analysis quickly looked at the incident and they all agreed that it was particularly harsh on Maher and that the officials were wrong to deal with it like they did – because it looked like a push from the replays they showed.
Even the evening round-up of the weekend’s action on the late Sunday Game show – where they have a colder light and settled dust – didn’t provide any more evidence to the contrary.
By the end of the analysis, it was still inconclusive.
A new clip has been brought to light – an RTÉ clip – which shows that it was a punch and a red card incident. They should’ve just showed this again! Wherever the hell it was buried.
@SportsJOEdotie @TheSundayGame think the red card is pretty legit pic.twitter.com/4PWaZie01B
— Barry Duffy (@barryduf) August 21, 2016
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