Diarmaid Byrne was shown a straight red card in the 63rd minute of Limerick's Allianz NHL loss to Clare on Sunday afternoon.
The Patrickswell player caught Tony Kelly with a clumsy challenge which caused tensions to boil over, with Clare players Cian Galvin, Adam Hogan, Conor Leen, Darragh Lohan, Cathal Malone and Sean Rynne all lighting on Byrnes, pushing and shoving him.
Byrnes defended himself by swinging at the group of Clare players, as his team-mates Cian Lynch, Patrick O'Donovan and Aaron Gillane joined into stick up for him.
But referee Thomas Walsh gave Byrnes a straight red card, reducing Limerick to fourteen men for the rest of the game, which Clare won by 1-21 to 0-21.
After the game, speaking to reporters, John Kiely stated that Byrnes was sent off for the tackle rather than the afters.
"I wouldn't call it an altercation," Kiely said.
"Diarmaid led with the leg to get in over the ball. Every player that goes into a ruck tries to get their leg in across the ball to get over the ball, that's what they're coached to do."
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"He got it completely wrong in his timing and made contact with one of the opposition players," he added.
"He's never been sent off in his career before so I think we''ll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. It was what it was, the reaction was a bit over the top.
"Yeah. He led with his leg and he just made contact with the player. It happens 100 times in every game. He was just unlucky, and made contact, there was no intent on his part whatsoever."
TG4 pundits Liam Rushe and Mark Foley were of the opinion that Byrnes was sent off for the afters, as he defended himself.
"I don't know what he was doing to be honest," Rushe said.
"He lost his head. It's rare you see this. Usually, he's sensible and composed on and takes his time on the ball. I don't know what happened."
"It is strange to see from a player who has much experience as Diarmaid Byrne," said former Limerick player Foley. He went with his fist, made contact and he deserved a red."
