FOOTBALL PUNDIT Colm O' Rourke has criticized both Tyrone and Armagh for their part in the brawl that saw referee David Gough send off five players late in the pairs Allianz Football League Division 1 clash at the Athletic Grounds on Sunday.
Tyrone's Padraig Hampsey, Kieran McGeary, Michael McKernan, and Peter Harte were sent off, while Armagh's Greg McCabe was also sent off
This was Tyrone's first defeat of the season as they lost 2-14 to 0-14 at the Athletic Grounds.
Tyrone came back into the game, but with four players sent off after the brawl that belief ended.
4 straight reds for Tyrone but only 1 for Armagh? pic.twitter.com/3nuaj83zaP
— fucsake ☢ (@begorabejaysus) February 6, 2022
And O'Rourke supported referee David Gough's decision. O’Rourke was speaking on RTE’s The Sunday Game
He said:
"I don't recall any game that I've ever seen where five red cards were handed out.
"There is a rule in the book of contributing to a melee and as far as I'm concerned the referee was perfectly within his right to send off those, he could have even sent off more.
"I know that the Tyrone crowd will be sore, why didn't he put off as many Armagh players...I don't know what players were doing in there. No one is claiming they hit anyone but they are still involved in a melee.
"For me it's the most unsightly thing as part of our game at the moment, this pulling, gouging, scraping, elbowing, the odd fist here and there, it's an unsightly behavior.
"You can see David Gough has a perfect view of it, stands back and seems to know exactly what is happening. He went to his linesman, he went to his umpire, he identified four players.
"And I think if every other referee took a lead with what David Gough did then we would not have these sort of incidents happening."
Armagh , United Kingdom - 6 February 2022; Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)See More: GAA, Tyrone Armagh
