Galway’s All-Ireland winning manager John O’Mahony said it was unfair for captain Sean Kelly and Armagh’s joint skipper Aidan Nugent to be sent off as they seemed to be peace-makers during Sunday’s melee at Croke Park.
O’Mahony, who guided the Tribesmen to All-Ireland glory in 1998 and 2001, said the GAA need to take some responsibility for the unsavoury brawl as both teams used the same tunnel to go to their dressing rooms before extra-time started.
“It was amazing that both captains were sent off, apparently for contributing to a melee, they were third men or fourth men in or whatever. But the reality in the pictures that I saw was that Sean Kelly and Aidan Nugent seemed to be trying to keep players apart, trying to stop it.
“Why would they be sent off? It’s unbelievable that you had two players picked out who seemed to be trying to prevent it. I don’t know what gets into people’s heads. You lose focus or whatever. You are trying to get to an All-Ireland semi-final, not to try to win a war or a battle. It will be interesting to see how the thing is dealt with,” he said.
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O’Mahony, who earlier this year took charge of Galway side Salthill/Knocknacarra, said it was a pity that a game which had so much drama was being dominated by the melee.
“Any eye-gouging or anything like that from any of the players on either side is just not acceptable,” he told Galway Bay FM.
“It appears that one of the Armagh players involved was not in the [matchday] 26. The GAA has been very strong on that over the years and they have to look at why they were involved, why they were there. There are a whole lot of questions.”
Galway GAA officials are keeping their powder dry while the probe into the game is ongoing, with a spokesperson saying they have no comment to make on the matter at the moment, with manager Padraic Joyce and his backroom team having already turned their attention to the All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Derry on Saturday week.
O’Mahony was in charge the last time Galway met Derry at this stage of the championship, with a 1-14 to 1-11 win sending them into the 2001 All-Ireland final where they defeated Meath to win their second title in four years.
And O’Mahony also said he agreed with Galway manager Joyce that penalties should not be used to decide a match of this importance and he expects a change in this regard.
“I would absolutely agree with him. I can’t see the situation again, particularly at quarter-final level or semi-final that you will have a game decided on penalties. It’s absolutely crazy,” added O’Mahony.
