O'Dwyer blasts rescinded red card decision
August 29, 2008

Mick O'Dwyer
Kerry legend Mick O'Dwyer has hit out at the Central Hearings Committee for their decision to rescind Donncha O'Connor's red card, making him eligible to play for Cork in this Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final replay against the Kingdom.
O'Connor lighty-slapped Aidan O'Mahony across the face in the second-half of last Sunday's semi-final which saw the Cork attacker receive a straight red card from referee Joe McQuillan.
"If you get a slap it's striking and that's it and no more about it," said O'Dwyer. "Darragh Ó'Sé should be playing on Sunday so if that's the case.
Beforehand, Kerry's Darragh Ó'Sé had saw red for striking Pearse O'Neill off-the-ball, but the Wicklow boss does admit Aidan O'Mahony's antics after receiving the touch from O'Connor weren't honest either.
"Well I suppose it wasn't right what he (O'Mahony) did and an hour after it he might have been sorry," admitted O'Dwyer. "But he actually got a slap on the face and that is striking whether you like it or not, one way or the other.
"If you push someone it's assault. In legal terms and if you have a rule for that then the rule should be carried out but I think they've changed it again and he's (O'Connor) available for next Sunday.
"Hitting a fella punch or giving him a slap, is there a difference? Maybe there is, I don't know."
The All-Ireland Champions will now be missing their key midfielder, Ó'Sé, for Sunday and the former All-Ireland winning manager believes that Pat O'Shea will need to re-shape his team in order to fill the void left by the All Star.
"He is a massive loss," said O'Dwyer. "He's been the general and the top player on that team for the past 12 years.
"For the first 25 minutes against the last day against Cork I thought he was outstanding. He caught some wonderful balls and delivered the ball very well. They'll have to re-jig their team the next day so it's there to be won, that's for sure."
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