WHILE KIERAN DONAGHY has sympathy for David Clifford after his recent club championship red card, the Kerry great says the current captain is going to have to learn not to react.
In action for his side East Kerry on Saturday night, the 21-year-old was at the centre of the late drama in Austin Stack Park as he hit a key late goal, one of the final points and was then shown a red card as the defending champions eventually sealed their semi-final spot.
The Kingdom’s brilliant attacker was given his marching orders, reportedly for an off-the-ball offence, before East Kerry sealed the narrow win over fellow divisional outfit St Kieran’s.
Now, Clifford is potentially suspended for the all-important last-four battle.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Inside The Game alongside Tyrone’s Peter Canavan and Dubliner Bernard Brogan, Donaghy gave his take on the incident: “It is tough on David. He was also sent off last year
“I think Peter, Bernard and myself can vouch, when you’re an inside forward, you are targeted. He’s been targeted non-stop whether it’s playing with Kerry, or with his club Fossa, or obviously playing with East Kerry.
“The incident was unfortunate. He was running down the pitch, they were up a point. He was trying to get on the ball. A man meets him on the 45, grabs him around the neck. And he [Clifford] pulls him in and lifts his leg to get him off him. And unfortunately it’s often the reactor who’s caught up in these situations.
💬"The refs could do with a lot more help from umpires and linesmen on who's actually starting these altercations"
— Sky Sports GAA (@SkySportsGAA) September 2, 2020
Kieran Donaghy discusses David Clifford's red card🗣️👇
📺Watch Inside The Game at 9:30pm on Sky Sports Arena! #SkySportsGAA pic.twitter.com/OnsK9wxU55
“Probably the refs could do with a lot more help from umpires and linesmen on who’s actually starting these altercations, because you’ve got a forward who’s running down the field to try and get on the ball and kick an insurance score. And he’s met by someone who is not even looking at the ball, that plays him off it.
“But look, that’s par for the course. David’s going to have to learn, and he will learn, when you’re being targeted that much in games.”
Red Hand great Canavan was in full agreement with Donaghy.
“I just have to concur with everything that Kieran just said regarding this business with holding onto players off the ball,” he added.
“Clifford is a key man in Kerry, and county football will be the same. It’s happening all over, whereby key players, it’s too easy for them to be taken out of the game. Inevitably they react, or try to free themselves, and they’re the ones that end up getting sent off.
“It happened to young [Conor] McHugh in the Dublin Championship last year, very blatant. I do think linesmen and umpires are going to have to do more to help referees in that regard.”
The full discussion will be aired on the latest episode of Inside The Game on Sky Sports Arena at 9:30pm tonight.
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