Kildare and Laois shared seven red cards in an ill-tempered O’Byrne Cup quarter-final in Portlaoise on Sunday.
Five of the seven red cards resulted from one specific incident - a mass brawl. Local reports say the brawl was sparked by a push in the back on Kildare’s Ronan Sweeney.
The tie itself ended in a 0-11 to 0-08 victory for Kildare. The result will no doubt be lost in the wash, as the Leinster Council investigates the unacceptable discipline displayed from both sets of players.
No statement has been released on suspensions for the players; however, it can be assumed those players involved will face lengthy bans as a result of the altercation.
After the alleged push on Sweeney after 30 minutes, every player from both teams – bar the Kildare goalkeeper and an unnamed Laois forward – got involved in the fracas. Several punches were said to have been thrown and successfully landed.
Following consultation with his linesmen, referee Syl Doyle brandished a single red card and showed it to five different players at the same time: Billy Sheehan, Kevin Meaney and Peter O’Leary from Laois, and Morgan O’Flaherty and John Doyle from Kildare.
Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney corroborated local reports that the incident was sparked by the push on McSweeney. Thankfully McGeeney did not use this as an excuse and went on to say: ‘There is no place for a brawl like that.
‘None. No matter what excuse I or anyone else gives. There is no excuse. It just shouldn’t happen. But I do think it could easily, easily have been stopped.
‘I don’t think Laois went out looking for a fight. I don’t think Kildare did either. It’s hard for us though, because we’re not allowed to comment on any decisions made.
‘But you wouldn’t have had that had the incident just five seconds before the brawl been taken care off, then it would have been all wiped out.
‘That incident should have been dealt with, whichever way he (the referee) saw fit. But to throw the ball up, straight after two people were sort of on the ground, was a complete disaster.’
Following the initial five red cards, aggression continued to mar the ill-tempered affair in the second half. Laois’ Denis Booth also saw red after 56 minutes. Booth was shown red for tackling and pinning Dermot Early to the playing surface.
Finally, Pádraig O’Neill also saw red, for a second bookable offence at the close of the encounter.
