While Kerry put in a fantastic performance in today's All-Ireland final, you get the feeling that the result could have been different if Dublin had a full compliment of players on the pitch.
Johnny Cooper's red card just before halftime was certainly a pivotal moment in the game. The defender was put through the ringer by David Clifford at times, and his physical approach got him into trouble with referee David Gough.
The penalty he conceded was on the soft side, but he couldn't really argue with the two yellow cards. The incidents were very similar and Cooper will feel he should have done better on both occasions.
While the general consensus is that David Gough was right to send the player off, there was some disagreement on the Sunday Game panel tonight. Both Colm O'Rourke and Ger Brennan felt he was hard done by, while Tomás Ó Sé said he felt the penalty was a bit harsh.
Sean Cavanagh drew on his previous experiences with the referee and said that Cooper likely would have been warned that another foul would see him sent off.
Overall David Gough had a good game #SundayGame #AllIrelandFinal2019 #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/onzUXu2wC4
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) September 1, 2019
You would expect Brennan to defend his former team mate, but it's surprising to see that O'Rourke held a similar view. At least the conversation was more civilised and thoughtful than what occurred earlier in the day.
