Brian Gavin: James Owens was overfussy but O'Donoghue and Cork have themselves to blame

Owens is coming in for criticism, a lot of it unfair.

Referee James Owens is spoken to by Cork’s Declan Dalton at the end of the game. Pic: ©INPHO/Ken Sutton

Fourteen yellow cards and one red is a massive tally in any hurling game.

It’s a total more in line with an early league fixture when players aren’t fully fit, conditions are poor and a referee is trying to apply the rulebook as much as possible because that is how he is going to progress.