Marking my card on the black peril

They say the new black card system in football has shaved away a good deal of the cynicism. I decided to have a look yesterday at the game I was covering, Derry-Mayo in Croke Park, to see if the evidence bore out the presumption.

Certainly the first half wasn’t an essay in cynicism.

After seven minutes, ref Padraig Hughes spotted an off-the-ball foul for Mayo, which Alan Freeman, right, pointed.