Three red cards and 30-man brawl

A 30-man brawl marred yesterday’s Waterford SHC third round game between Mount Sion and Dungarvan at Fraher Field. 

The incident lasted eight minutes towards the end of the first half, with players and mentors from both sides involved. County board officials and stewards intervened to restore calm.

When tempers cooled, referee Dessie O’Leary flashed red cards to Austin Gleeson and Colm Curran who tussled off the ball initially.

Managers Ken McGrath and James O’Connor gathered their teams at opposite ends before the game recommenced. Eight yellow cards and three reds were shown during an ill-tempered clash as Eoin McGrath was dismissed on a second yellow for Sion in the second half.

“This was a crucial game, everyone knew that in the county,” said Dungarvan boss O’Connor, adding that the melee was “just something that got out of hand”.

His side made a miraculous recovery in the closing ten minutes to snatch the spoils, 1-22 to 2-16.

Two green flags in three minutes sent Sion into an eight-point lead during the third quarter. Tony Browne teed up Bill Walsh on 34 minutes before the 41-year-old veteran buried an unstoppable shot into the cobwebs.

Patrick Curran jump-started the Dungarvan revival when he blasted home a close-range free with seven minutes remaining. The Blues, backed by the breeze, struck a purple patch of 1-6 without response to overtake their opponents.

Second-half goals by Gavin O’Brien and Paul O’Sullivan powered Roanmore to their second win of the championship in the curtain raiser against Cappoquin (2-13 to 2-8). Waterford U21 goalkeeper and Roanmore free-taker Billy Nolan was stretchered from the field in the first half with a collarbone injury.

With wind assistance, Cappoquin held a slender interval advantage (1-4 to 0-6). On nine minutes, Killian O’Sullivan booted the sliothar inside to unmarked Aaron O’Sullivan who slipped it to the net. The Waterford minor hit 1-2 from play in the first 30 minutes.

A brace from Daniel Murphy edged Roanmore in front before Gavin O’Brien finished low past Donal O’Rourke on 45 minutes.

With eight minutes left, Eoin Madigan made a lung-bursting run and sprayed the ball across to Paul O’Sullivan who doubled on it first time to the bottom corner. Cappoquin rallied late on but a Keith Landers goal couldn’t reel in Roanmore.