Aidan O’Shea’s restraint admirable to GAA agents provocateur

It is to O’Shea’s immense credit that in the face of constant provocation he has not succumbed to being a reactor, says Kieran Shannon

Watching Aidan O’Shea in action last Saturday, it was astonishing just how much self-restraint he showed — and how much provocation football still allows.

For the second consecutive championship match facing Ulster opposition, O’Shea was constantly targeted. Just like against Tyrone in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final, he was pulled, dragged, thumped. Even winning a free offered him no immunity. Opponents would still bump off him, or, when he’d been hauled to the ground, fall on top of him, their studs making contact with his face, all looking for him to lash out. But it didn’t work, just as it hasn’t worked against O’Shea for five years now. Prod this bear and you won’t get a reaction — at least not the one you’re looking for.