Brian Cody was surprised to see referee James Owens issue a straight red card to Richie Hogan for a high challenge on Cathal Barrett late in the first half of the All-Ireland SHC final.

The decision had a major bearing on the outcome as Tipperary made the most of their numerical advantage in the second half to run out comfortable winners.

"I wasn't expecting a red card, I was very close to it obviously. I can't definitively say, I'm not going to start making excuses or crying about things either," the Kilkenny manager told RTE.

"The only thing I will say is you need to be very, very certain to issue a red card. And there was a big discussion for quite a while between the referee and linesman. He went over, examining people and everything else.

"Obviously he wasn't too sure himself but you'd want to be very, very sure to issue a red card." 

He added: "Richie was sent off and that obviously changed the complexity of the game in a serious way,"

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