Cork’s extra body can’t quench the Limerick spirit

A sending off in hurling affects a game in various ways, writes Donal O’Grady.

The 14 man unit ‘up’ their work-rate and determination, as Limerick did on Saturday, while the opposition are sometimes lulled into a false sense of security and think they will win the game automatically because of the extra man.

Focus sometimes drops, allowing the 14 men to get a grip on the game. The referee, whose decisions are always crucial in tight games, can be a little more sympathetic to the numerically disadvantaged side and they get scoreable frees more easily than the opposition.