LIMERICK MUST REIN IN INDISCIPLINE AND PARANOIA

THERE is much ire here this week at the red card shown to Gearóid Hegarty, and while it was harsh it hardly warrants having a candlelight vigil outside Croke Park. If the Limerick team are not suffering from a persecution complex, then I most certainly think their supporters are. There is an element of paranoia among some Limerick folk who believe there is such a national pining for a change of champions that match officials are buying into it. Hegarty was unfortunate to get sent off last Sunday and whatever frustration the Limerick player may have felt as a result should not match the embarrassment of Aaron Fitzgerald (right, with Hegarty), whose theatrical fall is not in keeping with the spirt of the game. But there would have been no second card for Hegarty had he not picked up a first which was totally reckless and unnecessary, while there was also no need for that swing of the stick, harmless as it was, that left Colm Lyons with a decision to make. Surely that should serve as a reminder that Limerick need to be a little more careful. And their supporters could do with being slightly less paranoid.