During the All-Ireland final between Kerry and Dublin, images were captured in which Dublin defender Philly McMahon was adjudged to have placed his finger inside of the eye socket of Kerry captain Kieran Donaghy.
When allegations of eye gouging were initially put to McMahon, the Ballymun Kickhams player flatly insisted that what happens on the pitch should remain there. Meanwhile, Donaghy denied that the pictures of him making gestures to his eye were not related to any apparent eye-gouging.
Philly McMahon to learn fate after Kieran Donaghy incident http://t.co/0vRoGNLAJV pic.twitter.com/lXKvoKMjKF
— Irish Times Sport (@IrishTimesSport) September 24, 2015
But now it appears that the Tralee man may well have been trying to bring eye gouging to the attention of referee David Coldrick at the time of the incident.
An RTÉ documentary, due to be aired next Monday features footage of that moment in the All-Ireland. As part of the programme entitled All-Ireland final day, the referee was wearing a microphone. And according to reports, Donaghy can be clearly heard reporting to Coldrick that McMahon had made contact with his eye.
'He gouged my eye on the ground, Dave,' to which Coldrick replies, 'I didn't see that now, Kieran. That was just two lads competing.'
McMahon was already on a yellow prior to the alleged eye-gouging incident. Had Coldrick elected to side with Donaghy, McMahon may well have been dismissed from the pitch which could have potentially changed the entire complexion of the remaining phases of the game.
Volatile exchanges between Donaghy and McMahon took place elsewhere in the game with both attempting to incriminate the other by relaying acts of player misconduct to Coldrick.
'Number 4 (McMahon), persistent fouling, yellow card' says Donaghy. McMahon then interjects, saying, 'It’s always the back, It’s always the back. Donaghy is hitting me when I am trying to make a block. David, I swear to God I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything.'
The referee then cautioned McMahon for persistent holding, to which the defender replied: 'I’m not holding him, F**k sake.'
The documentary will be shown on RTÉ one on Monday at 9.35.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
