James Horan says Robbie Kiely's early black card in yesterday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final was "incredibly harsh".

The Tipperary centre back cut a disconsolate figure after the biggest game of his career was cut short prematurely.

"Tipp can feel hard done by over Robbie Kiely's black card. Nine minutes was all he got," the former Mayo manager writes in the Irish Daily Star.

"For a player to train his whole life and for that to happen is just wrong. I don't like the black card. I think it's rubbish. I think it's incredibly harsh.

"He pulled a jersey and then they fell over each other. I don't think he dragged (Jason) Doherty to the ground. It was a yellow card offence.

"Kiely has been one of their main men all year, and a real leader. It's too much to be taken out of a game for one tackle like that. Tipperary were using 17 guys throughout the summer, and it caught up with them here."

Horan is hoping Mayo are saving their best for last after failing to catch fire in their run to the All-Ireland final.

"Being massive underdogs going into an All-Ireland final is fine, but the level of performance Mayo have put in to date this summer hasn't been as progressive as it should be. They've been too wishy-washy so far, but I think there's still a big peformance in them," he added.

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