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Published 11:41 27 Jan 2019 GMT
Updated 14:21 30 Jan 2019 GMT
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The Roscommon star let himself down when Higgins spun and stood up. If there was contact with Higgins, it was minimal but Smith dropped to the ground as if he had been struck by the Mayo man's head before chaos ensued and players from both sides flooded the scene.
The match officials were kept busy and, in the closing stages, Ultan Harney was sent off for Roscommon while Colm Boyle was shown a black card.
Following his side's 1-8 to 1-7 win, Mayo boss James Horan told RTÉ Sport that he did not see the Smith-Higgins incident. "My backroom team were watching and rang down straight away to say that there was an incident," he said. "All I can do is have a look at it. I don't know whether there was intent or not."
Cunningham also spoke with RTÉ Sport and addressed the Smith incident:
"There was a lot of physicality out there because of the conditions. Did I see that incident? Absolutely not. We wouldn't promote or endorse that type of behaviour in any way."While many fans that saw the incident live, or caught up on highlights, have called for Smith to receive a lengthy ban, the GAA's own rules, and precedence, may tie their hands. In 2015, Dublin defender Philly McMahon was banned for only one game for making contact with the face of Kieran Donaghy. The Kerry forward told the match referee he had been eye-gouged, a claim McMahon later denied, but the defender was only suspended for making contact with Donaghy's face. Dublin even appealed the ban to the GAA's Central Hearings Committee but that appeal was rejected. There are much harsher sanctions for gouging, and for 'making contact with the eye area', in rugby. Stade Francais prop David Attoub was once banned 70 weeks for a gouge on Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris when a photographer contacted authorities with some damning images of the incident, which occurred in a Heineken Cup encounter.
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