‘Like something out of the French Revolution' – RTE GAA pundit Donal Og Cusack slams Dublin star's reckless swipe

The Irish Sun

26-05-2025

DONAL Og Cusack labelled Dublin star Conor Donohoe's reckless swipe on John Fleming "like something out of the French Revolution".
It was far from the only potential red card challenge that went unpunished between
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Galway won the hard-nosed battle 0-29 to 3-15
Credit: @TheSundayGame
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The three-time All-Ireland winner didn't pull any punches in his assessment
Credit: @TheSundayGame
However, it was probably the worst of the lot as the midfielder caught Fleming across the neck as he raced towards goal.
Analysing it on The Sunday Game, Cork legend Og Cusack used fairly cutting language.
He underlined: "This last one is like something you'd see out of the French Revolution. It's more suited to something that would've been happening at the Bastille.
"I don't know how the umpires didn't see that.
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"Hurling is a physical game full of courage and toughness but there's nothing tough about that type of tackle."
While the Dubs could've easily been reduced to 14 men for that infraction, their opponents arguably should've had two reds of their own.
Within the first half Tribe goalkeeper Darach Fahy also got away with a needless swipe in retribution after he got clattered to the ground.
In addition to that Daithi Burke later flattened Darragh Burke with what seemed to be a clear shoulder charge to the head.
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At half-time of what was essentially a Leinster Championship semi-final, even Galway icon Joe Canning conceded Micheal Donoghue's men very fortunate to still have their full complement out there.
He acknowledged: "Coming out here, they're in a tangle. (Darach Fahy) is very lucky, he's very lucky. It could have been (a red card) easily, it could have been easily.
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Here again, Daithi Burke is very lucky. He just meets him in the chest and up to the face."
Back on the nighttime edition, Liam Sheedy was sat beside Og Cusack and agreed that both teams could count themselves lucky to remain at 15 apiece.
He added: "Absolutely, it should've been 13 against 14. There's no question that all three warranted red cards.
We want it to be 15 vs 15 but there is a duty of care."
On that note, Og Cusack later stated that officiating across the board isn't up to standard even at inter-county level.