Eamonn Fitzmaurice has refuted Lee Keegan's claim that Evan Regan was on the receiving end of a "very dirty tackle" from Ronan Shanahan during last Saturday's Allianz League clash between Kerry and Mayo.

Shanahan received a yellow card following the incident which left Regan with a broken jaw. Speaking earlier this week, Regan's Mayo team-mate Keegan said: "He got a bad tackle at the weekend . . . and he got a bad outcome; a broken jaw. He's going to have to try to look after that for a couple of months anyway.

"I was literally in line with it. It was bad, now, I have to say. I was chatting to him yesterday and he was in a bad way still. I know he got a bit of bad news, he has to get surgery now, I think."

But while wishing Regan a speedy recovery last night, Fitzmaurice yesterday rejected the suggestion that the incident was in any way malicious.

"They were way off the mark. It wasn't a dirty tackle at all. It was a genuine attempt to play the ball and I don't think Lee looked back at the replay of the incident to be honest with the comments he made," the Kerry boss is quoted as saying in the Irish Independent.

"There was absolutely no intent on Ronan Shanahan's part, I spoke to him and he said the same thing. I knew it from looking at the replay of the incident myself. So no I don't agree with Lee and I refute Lee Keegan's assertion that there was any malice in Ronan's tackle."

Tweet

Most Read Stories