Galway captain Sean Kelly on rescinded red card against Armagh: 'He had to pick someone'

It was widely deemed that Seán Kelly's red card at the end of normal time in Galway's All-Ireland quarter-final win over Armagh was harsh.

The Tribe captain - along with Orchard joint-skipper Aidan Nugent, were sent off after a mass brawl broke out between the sides when they were heading for the tunnel.

Kelly later had it rescinded, and was free to play against Derry in the semi-final. Kelly has since stated he understands referee David Coldrick's decision.

"At the time he was just like 'we were an instigator to the melee'. Obviously that changed then, it got overturned," Kelly outlined.

"There was just so much going on, it is tough for a referee to pick someone.

"It is not what you want to see in our game. In fairness to him it was a tough choice for him, but he had to pick someone. I got the short straw you could say.

"You cannot change the referee's mind. I knew after I got the red there was obviously disappointment at the start, but the next step really is you have to win extra-time."

Kelly clarified that they were not red cards issued to the two captains on behalf of their teams: "No, I heard that around, but it wasn't said on the day."

Securing the win against Kieran McGeeney's charges ultimately galvanised this Galway team.

"Against Armagh to get a win in Croke Park, it was a tough battle, a quarter-final. We were seven points up at one stage, a couple of high balls in [changed that]," he explained.

"That melee nearly got us going again you could say. There was disappointment, but it kickstarted us again. We were delighted to get over the line in penalties. Extra-time was a draw, but we were delighted to get the win in the end."

I got the short straw you could say.

Armagh got back into the contest through landing high balls in the Galway square. Kelly and his defensive colleagues are primed for further aerial bombardment from Kerry on Sunday.

"Obviously we have been working on it in training, it is something we have confidence in," he detailed.

"It is not something we are scared of. It is a good tool, Armagh got joy out of it. If it happens we will do our best to deal with it."

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Facing the Kingdom

Galway take on Kerry for the first time since their hammering in the 2021 National League. Their first outing of that season following the Covid-19 lockdown, the Tribesmen were off the pace and were duly punished. Kerry 4-21 Galway 0-11.

"It was a tough loss," Kelly reflected. "I was actually on the bench that day. I was just back from injury, but I came on in the second half. There wasn't much to play for in the end.

"During the pandemic we have changed since then, we have been training together. At the time we probably didn't get as much training together as we could. We were more training in pods, since then we have kicked on from that.

"I don't think any team wants to go through it, but if it happens, it happens. It is probably a great sign for a team the way we reacted. We have trained hard, heads down. We have pushed on from it, but in fairness I don't think any team wants to go through defeats like that. It is not a fun journey home."

Nonetheless, the 22-point pasting did not rock the Connacht side's belief.

"In fairness, we had belief and confidence, me personally in our team," he said.

"Pádraic [Joyce] has tried to instil it since he has come in that we should be fighting for All-Irelands. Thankfully now this year we have kicked on an extra step and we are in one, we are just looking forward to it now."

He has had some days to remember against Kerry too.

"We have had a couple of games against them - 2017 we played them at U21, a lot of those young lads have come through," the Moycullen man said.

"We got over the line that day and obviously UCC too, a good few of the lads played them [in the Sigerson Cup with NUIG]. It is not something we are scared of, you cannot be scared of someone else. We are looking forward to it, we know it is going to be a tough battle."

At 25, he is hoping to become the first captain since Gary Fahey in 2001 to lead Galway to the summit of Gaelic football.

"It is an honour and a privilege to be captain, but I try not to let it affect me," he said.

"I was selected as captain to do my own thing, I don't want to change the way I am, or the way I get ready for games. We have enough lads there that are speakers, who can motivate lads too."

Watch Kerry vs Galway in the All-Ireland SFC final live on Sky Sports Arena from 2:30pm Sunday.