DEREK MCGRATH HAS slammed the dismissal of Waterford’s Conor Gleeson in their defeat to Tipperary, saying that he “was very hard done by” in the bookings that led to his sending off.

Gleeson was hit with a first yellow card after 27 minutes for an off-the-ball tangle with Tipperary forward Seamus Callanan. 

The Fourmilewater man was dismissed three minutes later after picking up a second yellow, this time for taking down Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher who was bearing down on goal.

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Waterford were trailing by eight points at the time of Gleeson’s sending off, and went on to suffer their second successive Munster SHC defeat on a scoreline of 2-30 to 0-18.

“That was nothing, at best [it was] a skirmish between two players on the edge where we want to see people,” said McGrath when analysing the loss of Gleeson on the Sunday Game.

Conor has been very hard done by there in terms of the yellow card. If that’s a yellow card we might as well give it up.”

When asked if Gleeson’s dismissal was a turning point in the match, the former Waterford boss replied:

'At best it was a skirmish between two players' – Derek McGrath felt Conor Gleeson's sending off against Tipperary was very harsh #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/wMynhY2rWa

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 19, 2019

“Between the 32nd minute and the 51st minute, Waterford rallied as is often the case when a guy is sent off.

“They got it to 0-20 to 0-17, so in terms of a turning point at that time, you couldn’t argue that Waterford were in pole position. You’d have to say that Tipperary were outplaying, [and] out-thinking us all over the field.

But definitely, [it was] the catalyst for a better performance. It enabled us to dig in until the 51st minute.” 

Do you think Conor Glesson’s sending off was harsh? Let us know in the comment section below.

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