Speaking on The Sunday Game, former Limerick hurler Shane Dowling has called out a Waterford hurling mentor for his collision with Gearoid Hegarty.
Things were heating up in the second half when, along by the sideline, the Waterford mentor ran down from the stand before slapping Gearoid Hegarty in the chest.
Hegarty and his team-mate Kyle Hayes were incensed and immediately pointed the Waterford backroom member out to the officials.
The mentor was eventually shown a red card by Galway referee Liam Gordon, and with his indiscretion likely to come down under the under the disrepute category of offences, he is expected to receive a lengthy ban from the association.
On The Sunday Game, Shane Dowling said that his behaviour was ‘disgusting.’
“Things spill over, we all make mistakes.
“But what really annoyed me is that this lad, I don’t know who he is, I don’t like him smiling there as if he did something right, he actually ran to go down and hit Gearoid Hegarty. There’s no place in the game for that,” said Dowling.
'Someone running from the dugout to hit a player a dig is absolutely disgusting as far as I'm concerned' – The panel assess the flashpoints in Semple Stadium #SundayGame #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/j1qsbnotBL
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) April 23, 2023
“It’s a Munster Championship, things are going to get heated. Gearoid got sent off, Seamus Flanagan had a high challenge, and there were other things there as well. That’s going to come and go, and it’s part and parcel of championship hurling.
“But somebody running from the dugout to hit a player with a dig is just absolutely disgusting as far as I’m concerned.”
John Kiely was also disappointed with the goings-on and has called on the Association to act “accordingly.”
Davy Fitzgerald, meanwhile, has leapt to the defence of Gearoid Hegarty, and says he doesn’t deserve a ban for his red card.
“Gearoid Hegarty gets a tough time at times,” said Davy. I don’t think Gearoid is a dirty player. Is it a yellow card? It probably was.
“I hope he gets straight back into action and isn’t banned again.”
Related links
- Waterford mentor and Limerick doctor sent off in one of maddest minutes of hurling you’ll see
- Down pile the misery on Donegal with big Ulster championship win
- Jackie Tyrrell suggests two radical hurling rule-changes
