Michelle O'Neill is always putting her reputation on the line

Where cases of mistaken identity occur on the football pitch, we usually picture a ref handing out a card to the wrong player but the tables were turned somewhat on RTÉ’s ‘Soccer Republic’ last Monday when the commentator for the St Pat’s-Bray game managed to rename assistant referee Michelle O’Neill as ‘Michelle Smith’, an error not without a little added irony since the official’s day job happens to be as a swimming instructor.

The reason she came to play a prominent part in the programme’s highlights package was because referee Derek Tomney consulted her to get to the bottom of a brawl which erupted late in the game, the deliberations of the officials resulting in two Pat’s players being sent off.

But the super-charged atmosphere of the night didn’t bother O’Neill one bit.