IT HASN’T EXACTLY been a ringing endorsement for the sport – regardless of the entertainment factor, the history and the frenetic game.
Dublin and Galway hurlers are currently contesting the inaugural AIG Fenway Hurling Classic in Boston but the main talking point has been the lack of discipline shown by both sides.
An exhibition match, lads? The fighting Irish for sure.
On a day when hurling is broadening its horizons and the GPA are attempting to spread the gospel, the melee which developed during the first-half was hardly a good advert for the game and our national sport.
After it all eventually died down, referee Alan Kelly brandished yellow cards for Galway captain Andy Smith and Dublin goalkeeper Conor Dooley.
All the good attributes of hurling have been on show but this aspect of the sport isn’t what we want to see – particularly during a ‘friendly’ game being broadcast around America.