Referees chief Mick Curley has jumped to the defence of under-fire official Michael Duffy.

Duffy was criticised for sending off a Portlaoise player inside the opening minute of Sunday's All-Ireland club semi-final defeat to Kilmurry-Ibrickane at the Gaelic Grounds, but Curley - chairman of the national referees committee - says the Sligo whistle-blower got it right.

The perfectly logical stance of the referees seems to be one of: when is a red card not a red card?

"There is a line of thought that these offences should not be punished because they come so early in the game and that they imbalance the teams," says Curley. "But if it's a red-card offence then it's immaterial when it happens.

"All anyone wants from referees is consistency. Michael Duffy was looking at the incident, not his watch, and got the right call in our opinion." Tweet

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