A total of five players, three from Dublin and two from Meath, were sent off by referee Paddy Russell in an ill-tempered game, four of them after a huge melee in the opening minutes.

Now 16 players, eight from each side, have been told they will be suspended for anything up to two months, and both counties have been fined ?20,000 after strong words from GAA President Nickey Brennan on Monday.

“It is time that those in leadership stood up and responsibility was taken for the actions that we saw yesterday,” Brennan told RTE Radio at lunchtime on Monday.

“I’m disgusted with it and I don’t know what we have to do get the message across to these people that presenting our games is important, and we want to make sure we attract future generations to our games. Sunday’s events did nothing to help in that regard. It’s time for people to take responsibility and show respect.”

Dublin face the prospect of playing Westmeath in Saturday night’s Division Two NFL final without nine players as Alan Brogan is already suspended for a red card in Crossmaglen two weeks ago.

Ciaran Whelan, Bernard Brogan, Paul Flynn, Dermot Connolly, Paddy Andrews, and Ross McConnell are among the other eight Dublin players who have been offered a personal hearing against the suspension.

Meath’s championship plans will also be hit heavily as Darren Fay, Seamus Kenny, Niall McKeigue, Nigel Crawford and team captain Brendan Murphy face possible two-month bans, while Caoimhin King, Shane McAnarney and Peadar Byrne could spend a month on the sidelines.

Dublin’s Bernard Brogan and Paddy Andrews and Meath’s Niall McKeigue and Shane McAnarney were all sent off after a 90 second brawl in only the fifth minute when Meath felt they should have been awarded a free.

Matters deteriorated further when Dublin midfielder Whelan was sent off nine minutes later for throwing a punch at Meath’s Seamus Kenny. Whelan then had a cup of hot tea thrown at him by a Meath fan, an incident which infuriated Dublin boss Paul Caffrey.

“I’m sure the spectator who threw it at Ciaran Whelan is not the proudest man, or maybe he is,” Caffrey said. “Dublin and Meath have massive respect for each other, and long may that continue, but supporters throwing hot cups of tea at players certainly doesn’t enter into it. I’m sure the gentleman isn’t a true reflection of Meath supporters.

Referee Russell was actually praised by Caffrey for his performance as all hell broke loose around him.

“Paddy Russell had a job to do and I thought he did it well,” Caffrey said. “We in the Dublin dressingroom would have great respect for Paddy Russell –- great credit to him.”

Meath manager Colm Coyle felt that his team should have had a free just before the mass brawl. “I couldn’t see really see it,” said Coyle. “I would have found it hard to pick out the four who were picked out but look, I was the far side of the pitch. I’ll plead like Arsene Wenger does — I didn’t see any of my lads do anything.”

Dublin qualified for the final on the back of their 12 man win. “We knew that last week’s performance up in Crossmaglen isn’t acceptable. Players are the hardest critics of themselves and we spoke about it during the week. That performance isn’t what this dressing-room is about. There was always going to be a response,” said Caffrey.

Tipp Wins Final

TIPPERARY boss Liam Sheedy celebrated the first win of his reign en route to a training camp in Portugal on Sunday then insisted the hard work is all to come despite Sunday’s impressive National Hurling League final win (3-18 to 3-16) over Galway.

“Look, national titles are hard to get,” Sheedy told the Irish Independent after his team’s deserved win in a cracking league decider. “You saw that out there today. I think maybe the resolve we gained from tight matches in Ennis and Pearse Stadium and the same with 10 or 15 minutes to go against Waterford and Kilkenny in the last few weeks stood to us.

“We said we’d take the year in stages and this is only the second stage so we’ll enjoy tonight, but we’re under no illusions. There’s a massive, massive step up in terms of what we’re going to meet in the Championship. And that all starts from tomorrow.

“It’s only the middle of April. I’m not getting carried away and no-one in that dressingroom is going to get carried away either. The job now is to get ready for June.

“This will help. Believe me, that was like a championship game. There’ll be a lot of championship games in two or three months’ time that won’t come near the standard of that.”

Galway boss Ger Loughnane had no complaints whatsoever about the result, and even agreed that his team had hung on for longer than expected in a Limerick thriller at the Gaelic Grounds.

“The better team won,” agreed Loughnane when he spoke to reporters after the game. “We were hanging in for more than we should have been. Our inability to cope with Lar Corbett was a big factor. This was a very high class game and Tipperary are a lot more advanced than we are. They are a quality team.

“We have an awful lot of work to do ahead of the championship to get up to the level that’s required and there’s about five or six positions that we need to sort out in the next 10 weeks to be real challengers when it comes to these type of big games.

“The great thing for us was that there was no lack of heart and we battled it out to the very end. And losing in April is not as bad as losing later on.”

Down Furious

FURIOUS Down boss Ross Carr could face disciplinary action after he claimed that referee Pat Fox was either “incompetent or biased” when his side were beaten by Fermanagh (1-12 to 0-13) at Newry last Sunday.

“One thing you can’t legislate for in this game is the performance of the referee. I suppose there’s a directive from Croke Park not to comment, but how would you assess the performance of the referee in the second half?” asked Carr.

“Ambrose Rodgers goes through and is pulled to the ground twice but he doesn’t get a free — and they go and stick the ball over the bar. All of sudden that’s a two-point swing.

“The last two scores that Fermanagh got, Liam Doyle was in front both times and a man pushed him in the back and we concede a goal and a point.

“This is not sour grapes, Fermanagh are a good side, they’re not top of the division for nothing. But it has come down to a call — either someone is incompetent or biased. The referee was one of the two — I don’t know which.”

Monaghan Errors

MONAGHAN were left to rue elementary errors in their home 0-11 to 1-10 defeat to Westmeath on Sunday, a result that cost them promotion from Division Two of the NFL.

“We made a few bad mistakes,” admitted manager Seamus McEneaney.

“We made a lot of unforced errors during the game and it cost us the game. But don’t take

anything away from Westmeath. They played some great football and got a lot of men behind the ball. You also have to remember they have only conceded seven or eight points in every game up until today.

“We’d be disappointed with today’s result, but today’s game won’t be remembered later in the summer. If there is a consolation, we have five weeks to prepare for Fermanagh. That’s what it’s really all about - championship football. There is no getting away from it — we came here today to win and we’d love to be in Division 1 in 2009, but that’s not the case.”

Sligo Drops

LONGFORD just preserved their Division Three status on Sunday when their 1-14 to 0-14 win over Sligo condemned the Connacht champions to the drop, much to the relief of manager Luke Dempsey.

“I am just thrilled that we showed great character. I felt overall when the chips were down that we played the better football,” said the Longford supremo. “The two teams were very tentative because it was a relegation survival match.”

Sligo boss Tommy Jordan said, “I am disappointed but that’s life, the league is over now and we have to move on from it.

“Sligo didn’t have a good league campaign last year but regrouped and re-formed and showed what they are capable of doing. Our aim this year is to put the league behind us and aim for the championship.”

Finals Set

THE National Football League finals will take place this weekend with the Division Two final between Dublin and Westmeath at Navan on Saturday night, and the Division One final between Kerry and Derry taking centre stage at Parnell Park on Sunday.

Fermanagh will play Wexford in the Division Three final also at Parnell, while Portlaoise will stage the Division Four final between Tipperary and Offaly.

GAA Shorts

TYRONE captain Brian Dooher was sent off in his first senior start of the year for his club Clann na nGael on Sunday but will be back from suspension in time for the Ulster SFC opener against Down in June .

CORK defender Cian O’Connor is certain to miss the Munster SHC first round clash with Tipperary after picking up a medial knee ligament injury in a club football game last weekend . . .

ROSCOMMON have handed under-21 football boss Michael Ryan the reins as the new manager of their senior squad after John Maughan’s controversial resignation earlier this month . . .

WATERFORD’S Eoin Murphy looks certain to miss the Munster SHC game against Clare at the start of June after breaking his arm in training last Thursday . . .

WESTMEATH have injury concerns over Dessie Dolan and David Duffy ahead of Saturday night’s NFL Division Two final against Dublin in Navan.