RTE PUNDIT Anthony Daly surprised the Allianz League Sunday studio with his take on Galway’s clash with Dublin.
Galway finished the match with 12 men while Dublin received a red card of their own in the 1-23 to 1-15 win for the hosts.
A look back on Galway's red cards and Henry Shefflin's calls for greater protection for his players from officials.
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Watch on RTÉ Player On top of the four reds, eleven yellow cards and one black were also brandished by referee Johnny Murphy.
However, Daly took everyone by surprise when he described the clash as ‘tame’.
Daly said: “Yeah it was tame enough really.
“Johnny (Murphy) gave a couple of yellows early on and sometimes these yellows, when he’s gone to consult with the umpire, leaves a bit of niggle – but there wasn’t a single bit of niggle for the first 20 minutes.
“It needs the fellas kinda getting in each other’s faces and for Dublin, it was their best performance I’d say for a long time.
“But significantly after the teams were levelled up to 14 each, they got one point from a 65 I think right at the end – so they’ll be disappointed with that.
“But I’d agree with Henry (Shefflin) that Jack Grealish’s (red) was a bit tough on him – two yellows – but as we see with some of the rest of them, you can’t really argue with them.”
Daly went on to say that the loss of Conor Whelan and Daithí Burke for next week’s clash with Limerick is a huge blow.
While Shefflin admitted he didn’t see what Whelan did to receive a red, the Galway boss was clearly irked by the two late decisions and pleaded for more protection for his stars.
Shefflin said: “I saw Daithí’s one and I thought it was a little bit late, but I thought it was shoulder to shoulder. I’m not quite sure, I’d need to see it back.
“Conor Whelan is an abrasive player, he’s a top player. Does he get the protection he required? Probably not. I didn’t see the incident but what happened for the first 45-50 minutes? Where was the protection for the forward?
“The referees are here to help the game and we’re going to be talking about the referee today. The best of referees, we don’t talk about. And unfortunately, that is not the case today. And for both sides.”
Daly disagreed and described the two challenges by Whelan and Burke as ‘silly’ and ‘even more silly’.