Both Peter Canavan and David Tubridy felt Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape should have received a more severe punishment than the yellow card he was shown for a challenge on Galway half-forward Johnny Heaney during Sunday's Allianz Football League Division 1 final.
23 minutes into the first half, with Mayo leading 0-6 to 0-2, a handpass over the top from John Daly put Heaney in a one-on-one situation with Reape. The Galway man got to the ball first but was then taken out by Reape.
Due to an injury, Heaney was substituted before half-time while Reape, who scored three points, went on to be named Man of the Match in Mayo's victory.
"It's was a great ball by John Daly over the top to Johnny Heaney but the way keeper comes out, he doesn't spread himself to block for a goal," former Clare footballer Tubridy said on RTÉ's Allianz League Sunday.
"He just looks and sticks out the leg at the last second, and catches Johnny Heaney on the quad. He takes him out of the game really. For me, it probably should have been a black card, and could have changed the game big time."
2 April 2023; Johnny Heaney of Galway shoots at goal under pressure from Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape and Conor Loftus of Mayo during the Allianz Football League Division 1 Final match between Galway and Mayo at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Tyrone great Peter Canavan added that it was "a massive call" by referee Brendan Cawley, "because the goalkeeper went on to be Man of the Match".
"I would have to agree with Padraic Joyce. Initially, when it happened, you thought it was just a collision, that the goalkeeper was fully committed. When you watch it again, he definitely took him out of it. I think he got off lightly.
"I'm not sure the referee was going to do anything. After it happened, he immediately turned away. I think there was contact made [by another official]. You hear it in rugby, that the referee is in contact with other officials. I would love to have know was it the umpire that said, 'Hold on, you've got to do something about that tackle'. It could have been the linesman.
"The referee, like me initially, thought it was an accidental collision. He made the right call to give a free in. I don't think a penalty was the call because there were two Mayo defenders going back in. If he'd carried the ball on, there were other defenders there.
"A black card, possibly; even a red was an option when you see the way he had his foot up. It was a dangerous, reckless tackle. A yellow card was a handy enough way out for Mayo."
"For me, it probably should have been a black card"
David Tubridy and Peter Canavan have their say on the decision to show Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape a yellow card for the Johnny Heaney incident
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