Diarmuid Connolly gets the line but St Vincent’s cope well enough

Palatine (Carlow) 0-8 St Vincent’s (Dublin) 0-16: Palatine co-manager Mick Lillis claimed Diarmuid Connolly is an easy target after the St Vincent’s captain was black-carded in the first half of this Leinster club SFC quarter-final in Carlow yesterday.

Connolly’s removal from the game for an off-the-ball incident involving Shane O’Neill, who was yellow carded for his part, didn’t impact too much on the Dublin champions as they came into their own in the second half having led by two points, 0-5 to 0-3, at the break, despite going almost 23 minutes without a score.

St Vincent’s manager Tommy Conroy wasn’t drawn too much on the 21st-minute decision made by referee Niall Ward after he consulted with one of his umpires. However, Lillis felt the All Star forward is getting a hard time of it from match officials.