Pat Spillane believes that Jonny Cooper should have seen red in the first half of Dublin's Leinster semi-final win against Longford on Sunday.
"The big talking point afterward was, did he deserved to be punished for this? I think he did," Spillane said on The Sunday Game.
The incident which Spillane referenced was one in which Cooper made contact with the cheek of Longford's Dessie Reynolds with his fist.
In the 29th minute, as Reynolds hared towards goal, Cooper and Philly McMcahon converged on the Longford half-forward. Cooper was already on a yellow card at the time due to an off the ball incident earlier in the game.
"He led with his hand into the Longford player's face," said Spillane.
"At the very best, it was a yellow card offence. At the very worst, it was a red card. Jonny was very lucky to stay on the field."
Perhaps recognising that Cooper was in danger of being red carded, Jim Gavin substituted him at half-time. The replacement was Jack McCaffrey, making his return to a Dublin jersey for the first time since injuring his knee in the early minutes of last year's All-Ireland final.
"Jonny plays on the edge, sometimes beyond the edge - all teams and great players do - but he'll have to be very careful. He was a very lucky boy today to not have been sent-off," added Spillane.
Picture credit: Sportsfile
