Carlow hurler Jack Kavanagh has slammed referee James Owens for brandishing a red card to Chris Nolan at half-time during the county's crunch Leinster Hurling Championship clash with Antrim on Sunday.
The sides went into the final round of games as the bottom two teams in the round-robin, with the winner of Sunday's match retaining their place in Leinster and the loser dropping into the Joe McDonagh Cup for 2025.
A Keelan Molloy score in first-half stoppage time gave Antrim a one-point advantage heading into the break and Coady feels that the Saffron County's eventual 4-22 to 2-22 win was helped by what happened after the half-time whistle.
A scuffle broke out involving practically all of the players on the field and Nolan was seen to push over Antrim player James McNaughton. As the teams emerged for the second half, Owens showed a red card to the Carlow player for his part in the melee, and after the game Kavanagh took to Twitter to share his feelings about the ref's decision.
Léigh an scéal seo trí Ghaeilge ar Liathróidí.ie brúigh anseo
On a day in which a red card for Galway's David Burke made national headlines, Kavanagh felt that Nolan's sending off, and the impact it had on the bottom-of-the-table clash, warranted just as much debate.
James Owens 🤮😡. Don’t worry about nationally debating David Burkes red, watch this and watch how Carlow fighting for their lives to stay up had to play a second half with 14 men because they seen fit to find a red from this scuffle. Lads sacrifice so much and then have this 🤢! https://t.co/YxEx1BRIzd
— Paul Coady (@Paul_Coady10) May 26, 2024
Carlow players slam James Owens for red card in Antrim clash
"How about ye spend the same time debating on whether or not Chris Nolan of Carlow deserved to be sent off that ultimately relegated us to the Joe McDonagh Cup," he posted, alongside a clip of the Burke incident being debate by the RTÉ GAA panel. "Believe me it won’t be much of a debate! Scandalous but then again it is James Owens."
Kavanagh's tweet was liked by a number of his teammates and they were backed up by former Carlow player Paul Coady.
"Don’t worry about nationally debating David Burkes red," posted Coady, sharing a clip of the Corrigan Park brawl. "Watch this and watch how Carlow fighting for their lives to stay up had to play a second half with 14 men because they seen fit to find a red from this scuffle. Lads sacrifice so much and then have this."
Later on, during The Sunday Game, Nolan's sending off was debated, with Joe Canning saying that Owens' decision to brandish a straight red card was "very harsh."
Speaking directly after the game, Antrim manager Darren Gleeson acknowledged that the red card proved decisive, as his side secured their provincial status for next season.
"There's so much peril there in that game for everybody and you could see that on the field," he said.
"We are the two teams that have that peril hanging over them all season and if we don't get out business done early in the year, it's down to that one-game shootout where anything can happen. The altercation there at half-time was probably the turning point."
How about ye spend the same time debating on whether or not Chris Nolan of @Carlow_GAA deserved to be sent off that ultimately relegated us to the Joe McDonagh cup. Believe me it won’t be much of a debate! Scandalous but then again it is James Owen’s 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️ https://t.co/FVnj1v89jz
— jackkavanagh (@jackkavanagh30) May 26, 2024
Carlow return to Joe McDonagh Cup for 2025
Carlow suffered four defeats out of the their five Leinster games after gaining promotion as 2023 Joe McDonagh Cup champions but they certainly made their presence known with a famous draw against Kilkenny in their third outing of the campaign.
They'll surely be among the favourites to bounce back in Leinster next year but Sunday's defeat is likely to sting for some time.
See Also: Joe Canning Questions Galway Approach Under Henry Shefflin After All-Ireland Exit
