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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Paul Keane

Armagh star could be in hot water for actions in brawl against Galway

Armagh's Tiernan Kelly could be in hot water after what appears to have been an eye gouge on Galway star Damien Comer.

The All-Ireland quarter-final tie descended into chaos when a melee broke out after the sides finished level in normal time.

Galway captain Sean Kelly was shown a straight red card for his part in the dust-up – ruling him out of their All-Ireland semi-final against Derry on July 9.

READ MORE: What makes Mick Fitzsimons tick as he bids for a record ninth All-Ireland SFC title

Armagh’s Aidan Nugent also saw red, though extended panel member Kelly, whose fingers appeared to make contact with Comer’s eye in a separate incident wasn’t punished.

Galway boss Padraic Joyce arrived on the scene and attempted to break things up, though said he didn’t see the Comer incident.

“Sure that’ll be dealt with,” said Joyce. “I didn’t see it, honest to God, I was on the far side of the pitch.

“I came over, I saw scuffles going on, I tried to pull our lads away and that was all I done.”

Galway could yet be targeted with retrospective punishment if disciplinary chiefs feel they have cases to answer.

“We can’t focus on something when we don’t know what’s going to happen,” added Joyce.

“All I know is that we’re playing Derry on Saturday week so we’ll get everybody right for that.

“As of now, everybody is available bar Sean Kelly but we will look at that as well.”

Joyce said he condemned the ugly scenes and also claimed that Shane Walsh was ‘targeted all day long’ by Armagh players.

Greg McCabe was sent off earlier in the game for a huge hit on Matthew Tierney.

It’s the third high-profile melee that Armagh have been involved in this year.

Orchard players clashed with Tyrone and later Donegal in the league, prompting ex-attacker Steven McDonnell to suggest their players should ‘stand back from those types of incidents’ in future and keep their heads.

Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney said: “It’s not something you want to see. I suppose this year that’s two of them we have sort of been in, it’s unfortunate.

“But I always think, like, those things shouldn’t happen, they definitely shouldn’t, but there are a few simple things we could do to stop it.

“They shouldn’t be going in together at half-time. I know how it started and once it starts it can get out of control. It’s not a nice part... I wouldn’t want to see it.”

Asked if the players need to assume more responsibility for their actions, McGeeney retorted: “What happens if somebody pushes you? Do you push back?”

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