Rory Gallagher fumes over Leo McLoone red
The Laois official then felt obliged to appraise Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice of the exchange as tempers threatened to boil over at Austin Stack Park.
Gallagher fumed that Kerry had got Donegal’s Leo McLoone sent off, levelling up the two sides numerically after an early dismissal for Kingdom full-forward Alan Fitzgerald. Afterwards Gallagher also indicated a second Kerry player should have received his marching orders. But the Donegal manager also admitted he was disappointed with the discipline of his own side, and the fact that they didn’t push on with the wind after levelling at 0-7 each in the second period.
“Against the breeze, Kerry showed more hunger. We didn’t push on after drawing level. We had gained a platform in midfield and were in the ascendency. Fair enough Kerry got the goal but they also played a lot smarter football after that, and showed more than us to win it.”
On the referee, Gallagher added: “It’s very hard to see everything that is going on. I didn’t see the Kerry sending-off and I didn’t see ours, but speaking to Leo when he came off, he said that he didn’t do a lot. He thought at worst it was a yellow card and said it was just a pushing match.
“I wasn’t happy that we lost a man. We were in a strong position when Kerry lost their man and with a strong breeze, felt that we could have pushed on. But we are more disappointed in our own performance than anything else.”
His Kerry counterpart Fitzmaurice, added: “Donegal ask you physical questions with the game that they play; are you up for it? They ask you questions mentally in terms of your concentration levels, so of course we expected a tough battle.
“We had two black cards and a red card. Our discipline must not have been exactly where it needed to be but its something we can look at to improve on next weekend.
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