Kerry torpedo Clare, dodge Galvin bullet

A mismatch of some scale this, so does that excuse the Kerry management for falling asleep like the rest of us early in the second half?

With Paul Galvin booked and on the edge, logic and reason suggested that when Jack O’Connor and his selectors came to make his first two attacking substitutions, they’d be calling the Finuge man ashore for his own good — and for the good of Kerry’s All-Ireland quarter-final chances next weekend against Donegal.

Instead, and inexcusably, Kerry let Galvin, red mist and all, play on and minutes later, he was off for a second yellow card after a high tackle on Clare’s John Hayes — yes, the same Hayes from 2008, Paddy Russell and all that. It was only a yellow, yes, but with Galvin in such a confrontational mindset, it was asking for needless trouble not to yank him after the first yellow card.