![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/94344_2921693.jpg\")
<\/p>\nO’Connor believes former Donegal captain Murphy was fortunate to avoid a red card for challenges on Dylan Casey during Donegal’s Division One final win at Croke Park<\/p>\n
Donegal\u2019s Michael Murphy and Liam Smith of Kerry(Image: \u00a9INPHO\/James Crombie)<\/p>\n
Kerry manager Jack O’Connor believed Donegal’s Michael Murphy was lucky to avoid a red card during yesterday’s Division One final victory for the Ulster side at Croke Park.<\/p>\n
The Kingdom, who claimed the League crown last season before defeating Donegal in July’s All-Ireland SFC final, were comprehensively outplayed in a match that lacked the intensity of the weekend’s three other football deciders.<\/p>\n
Donegal won’t be concerned, however, as they cruised to a commanding 13-point victory. Yet referee David Gough’s choice to brandish a yellow card, instead of red, for Murphy’s pair of closed fist challenges on Dylan Casey during the opening half became a significant point of discussion.<\/p>\n
O’Connor concurred with the view that the former Donegal skipper should have received his marching orders.<\/p>\n
When a journalist raised this point following the match, he responded: “I agree with you, and you have better eyesight than a few other lads that were looking at it, let’s put it like that. Yeah, so what can I say? That’s what happened.”<\/p>\n
McGuinness emphasised that he hadn’t witnessed the incident himself, though he did acknowledge the game had turned “very physical” and called on officials to take firmer action against so-called “screening” and third-man tackles.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t see anything of it, to be honest with you,” McGuinness commented regarding the Murphy situation, before continuing: “But the game is very physical out there.<\/p>\n
“Going back to the kick-outs, the game is very physical on kick-outs at the moment. There’s an awful lot of blocking going on on kick-outs. There’s an awful lot of physicality going on in kick-outs across all the games.<\/p>\n
“There’s an awful lot of screening going on in the attack in third, which I think somebody’s going to get hurt from. I think people are going to people to hand them the ball, and they’re running into people to release people. That’s not in the rule book.<\/p>\n
“People are talking in the media. Coaches are talking about screening. Screening is not in the rule book.”<\/p>\n
“That’s a black card offence. Deliberately obstructing an opponent by crossing their path constitutes screening. McGuinness believes this issue requires urgent attention before the Championship begins, as he fears a serious head injury could result from such incidents.<\/p>\n
“But to your point, the physicality, it’s heavy around the middle. It really is heavy around the middle.”<\/p>\n
Despite being pleased with how his team performed, McGuinness quickly shifted focus to the upcoming Ulster SFC quarter-final against Down in Letterkenny at the end of April.<\/p>\n
“From our point of view it’s another game, it’s a great game to get under the belt,” he added.<\/p>\n
“It was lovely to get back to Croke Park, get a good game and have a good performance level and we go away now and start preparing for Down in the first round of the Championship.”<\/p>\n
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