Dublin are set to appeal the red card that Eoghan O’Gara received in last Saturday’s All Ireland SFC quarter final against Donegal in Croke Park according to Dublin manager Jim Gavin.
That red card will see the Templeogue Synge Street clubman serve an automatic one game suspension and rule him out of the highly anticipated All Ireland semi-final on the 28th of August at 3.30pm in Croke Park against old rivals Kerry.
O’Gara was sent off late in the game for an off the ball incident with Donegal’s Neil Magee. The incident was brought to the attention of referee Ciarán Brannagan by the two umpires at the Davin stand end of the stadium.
After a short discussion the referee brandished a yellow card to McGee but O’Gara received a straight red.
“I think so, yeah (Dublin will appeal),” said Gavin to the Irish Times. “The players know my feeling about if you raise your hand and make contact with somebody’s head, that you are going to get sent off and get no sympathy from me.”
The replay of the incident showed O’Gara slapped McGee, with an open hand, in the midriff with minimal contact, when the Donegal defender would not release his jersey.
This had been going on since O’Gara’s late introduction to the game and although Eoghan brought it to the attention of the umpires they ignored the constant provocation till O’Gara reacted to it with a soft looking slap.
Considering Michael Murphy only received a yellow card for his closed fist strike to the jaw of Dublin midfielder Brian Fenton earlier in the game, that left the Raheny man with with a lump the size of a golf ball, O’Gara’s punishment for an open hand slap seemed harsh in the extreme.
