MAYO MIDFIELDER AIDAN O’Shea admits he was aware that receiving a second yellow card in yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final would have seen him suspended for next month’s final in Croke Park.
Normally two yellow cards received in one game do not mean players are banned for subsequent matches.
But as O’Shea was sent-off in the quarter-final win over Donegal earlier this month after being booked twice, he would have been slapped with a one-game ban for two dismissals within a 48-week period.
After referee Maurice Deegan showed him a yellow card after a high challenge on Tyrone’s Colm Cavanagh in the first-half, O’Shea knew at half-time how severe the consequences would be if he got booked again.
“If I got another one I was out for the final so at half-time I just had a little think about it, to be careful. You don’t want to be missing the final.
“I think I learned a lesson from the Donegal game. Obviously when you’re on a yellow card you’re under a little bit of pressure.
“The pace some of the boys are going, one stray hand and you’re gone. So I was a little bit conscious of that second half alright.”
There had been plenty pre-match speculation that O’Shea was not set to start at throw-in due to injury troubles.
“I missed a training session last week but nothing major. Tightness in the quad, but I was fine. I was always going to be playing today.”
The brilliance of O’Shea’s displays this summer and those of Tyrone’s Sean Cavanagh had led to their showdown attracting plenty of the pre-match billing.
Yet it was Aidan’s older brother Seamus who stood out in the midfield battle with a superb performance.
“Yeah, Seamie was brilliant. I thought he did an excellent job and I don’t think we bought his (Sean Cavanagh) dummy all day which was great.
“I think as a unit, we talked about it last weekend, we make sure we cover the inside of the dummy if he goes for it. I thought Seamie tracked his runs all day well.”
