Darran O'Sullivan has revealed his frustration at receiving a controversial black card just nine minutes after coming on as a substitute in Kerry's All-Ireland football semi-final replay defeat to Mayo last month.

The long-serving attacker was dismissed by referee David Gough for an incident involving Cillian O'Connor, apparently on the advice of one of his linesmen. To compound matters, O'Sullivan received a one-match ban for his angry reaction to the decision. Speaking at the yesterday's annoucement of Sky Sports' new grassroots partnership with the GAA, he admitted he hadn't the energy to appeal the suspension.

"It was a joke. You all saw it, I asked him (Gough) and he wouldn't answer me. The linesman (Anthony Nolan, who flagged the incident) wouldn't answer me either. I ended up getting a suspension on top of it - and he (Nolan) gets the minor final to ref!"

"It just summed it up for me, the icing on top of the cake - get knocked out, get black-carded, miss the game having been chomping at the bit to get on.

"Then they hit you with a suspension, even though they don't tell you on the day what the black card's for. Ignoring me. I'm playing 12 or 13 years and never reacted like that before."

The 31-year-old, who is taking time out to consider his inter-county future after what he described as a 'wasted' season, is calling for better communication between match officials and referees in the wake of the incident.

"It should be a thing that the ref can talk to someone in each line - centre-forward, midfielder, centre-back or whatever, tell them to warn the number 15 or whoever it is," he continued.

"It's simple communication - something that you teach kids. Yet grown adults can't do it."

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