Omagh gaffe makes Canavan more dubious about black card

Peter Canavan says David Coldrick’s mistake in Omagh on Sunday has backed up his concerns about the black card.

In awarding Tyrone a first half penalty, the Meath referee failed to issue Down’s Conor Maginn a black card despite him deliberately pulling Mark Donnelly to ground. It would have seen Maginn replaced but leave the field for the remainder of the game. However, he later scored a goal as Down fashioned a comeback before he was eventually shown the card for a cynical foul on Sean Cavanagh.

Former Tyrone star Canavan argues the new rule does nothing to assist referees who already have a difficult time of it. “I was sceptical about the black card from the start because I felt it was making the job of the referee more difficult and referees don’t need that at the minute and that’s the perfect example. This is a high profile game — you can imagine in club games there are a lot of referees who don’t believe in the idea of the black card to begin with, and I know some referees have claimed they don’t even bring a black card with them.