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'It's fierce disappointing for Waterford that he's facing into this but it's conclusive for me'

Former Kilkenny player Eddie Brennan has had his say on the Austin Gleeson flashpoint.

FORMER KILKENNY PLAYER Eddie Brennan delivered a damning verdict on the flashpoint incident involving Waterford’s Austin Gleeson during yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Gleeson could miss out on a final appearance against Galway on 3 September after grabbing Cork player Luke Meade’s helmet and yanking it off.

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Brennan says that the footage is “conclusive”, with fellow pundit and former Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins admitting that the 2016 Hurler of the Year will endure a “sweaty couple of days” before learning his fate.

Kicking off the debate, former Clare star and ex-manager Anthony Daly said: ”There’s been so much talk for three weeks about helmets and my God, you’d say the last thing you’d go near today is a helmet. Austin found himself tangling with Luke Meade here.

“He goes to ground on top of him and the helmet comes clean off the head. Maybe in his defence, in some way, he was looking at the ball but the ball’s gone long out over the line. It’s just a hard one.”

Eddie Brennan Eddie Brennan had his say on Austin Gleeson. Oisin Keniry / INPHO Oisin Keniry / INPHO / INPHO

Brennan reflected: On this one, and we don’t like saying this, what you have to look at is the actions of his hands.

If your hand gets caught there, fair enough but once you start clenching your fist and closing in as if you’re grabbing something, which we see quite clearly there, you’re now in a situation, for me, where you’re aware of what you’re doing and you’re aware of what you’re holding onto.

“Yes, it’s fierce disappointing for Waterford that he’s facing into this but it’s conclusive for me.”

Cummins added: ”We were sat here last week, saying ‘players, just don’t touch helmets.’”

But he believes there may be a “ray of hope” for Gleeson, as Galway’s Adrian Tuohy was not reported for a similar offence in the All-Ireland semi-final victory over Tipperary eight days ago, when he pulled the helmet from Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher’s head.

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Cummins said: “If you wanted to put something to give Austin Gleeson some ray of hope for all the world, Tuohy got away with this pull on the headguard of Bonner Maher, on the basis that he wasn’t looking.

“That’s going to the argument that Austin’s going to put in.

“The other point is that I saw Brian O’Meara back in 2001 when he couldn’t play in the All-Ireland final, a young man turning up to training in a tracksuit, and no hurley.”

Brian O'Meara Tipperary's Brian O'Meara was suspended for the 2001 All-Ireland senior hurling final. INPHO INPHO

Cummins described Conor Gleeson’s swipe on Patrick Horgan, which earned the Waterford player a red card, as a “moment of madness.”

And he said: “That young man is going to go through the wringer in the next few weeks, and Austin has got another sweaty couple of days to go through on this one.”

Daly added: “What a loss he’d be to the final if he’s (Austin Gleeson) not there. He does so many amazing things with the ball – the vision for Jamie Barron’s first goal and then, the run. What a player.”

On the Conor Gleeson incident, Brennan said:  ”The 69th minute, a moment of madness from Conor Gleeson. Guys are very aware of what’s going on, the match is over for me.

“Conor Gleeson, you have to be a bigger person, look at the scoreboard and say ‘we’re just on the brink of an All-Ireland final, we’re seven points up.’”

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