Clare and Limerick found themselves reduced to 14-men in a cagey opening half to their final round match in Ennis this afternoon.
With the home side having the better of the first-half in scoring terms, Limerick, not possessing the same fluidity in attack as was in evidence against Waterford, looked a little rattled by Clare's high-octane start.
However, with the game still in the balance, both sides had a man each sent off in a series of incidents that have divided viewers. Although, few will have complaints that Limerick's substitute corner-back Tom Condon deserved less than a red-card, Clare's David Reidy seems to have been significantly more unfortunate.
Caught up in an off-the-ball incident with Limerick's Diarmuid Byrnes, much uncertainty surrounded the decision to send Reidy the same way as Condon; with many incapable of deducing what the card could have been awarded for.
Disgraceful putting Reidy off there, umpires and ref clearly didn’t see it. Byrnes went for him. Condon 100% had to go off, trampish act with the hurl. #GAA
— Tommy Rooney (@TomasORuanaidh) June 17, 2018
Terrible call. David Reidy did nothing.
— Kieran Cunningham (@KCsixtyseven) June 17, 2018
That’s as bad a red card for David Reidy as I’ve ever seen!!!
— Michael Verney (@mlverney) June 17, 2018
Had a great view and Reidy did nothing there. Terrible call.
— Brendan Bugler (@brendanbugler) June 17, 2018
James Owens and his team just made an absolute fuck up of that decision! David Reidy did absolutely nothing wrong. Hate to see that regardless of team or player. #ClarevLim
— Seánie Tobin (@Tellytobin) June 17, 2018
Reidy hit D Byrnes with a harmless enough shove. Condon drove the butt of the hurley into a Clare player's nether regions.
— Neil Treacy (@neil_treacy) June 17, 2018
Owens, loves being the centre of it.. fuckin' disgrace #ClarevLim
— Ashling Thompson (@AshlingThompson) June 17, 2018
Condon had to go but that’s a joke that Reidy was red carded!
— Brian Carroll (@BrianCarroll13) June 17, 2018
Awful red card decision against David Reidy. Is it a case of the ref wanting to even things up.
— Phil Egan (@philegansport) June 17, 2018
Although certain quarters suggested that Byrnes would hardly have gone to ground in the fashion he did if not for a serious incident.
In the RTÉ studio at half-time, Henry Shefflin and Liam Sheedy were unanimous in their condemnation of the decision with regards to the Reidy decision.
You can watch the half-time interview below.
"Neither team are playing like they're hellbent on getting into a Munster final" - Sheedy and Shefflin on Clare-Limerick pic.twitter.com/tC7s0hze3Y
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 17, 2018
