Cork manager Cleary hits out at 'dubious' penalty call in Kerry defeat

Cork manager John Cleary was not happy with the decisive penalty decision as his side were beaten by Kerry in their round robin Group 1 encounter.

"A very dubious penalty" is how the Cork manager described the decision as his side were on the wrong end of a 1-14 to 0-15 scoreline at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The main talking point came in the 47th minute when Kerry were awarded a penalty, as a result of a foul by Sean Powter on Paul Geaney.

And while it occurred outside the square, the referee deemed that a goalscoring opportunity had been denied and a black card was also awarded to Powter.

The goal proved the difference in the end as Kerry took a two-point victory to secure their first win of the group stages.

Cleary said that he had rewatched the incident and is convinced that there was adequate cover in the box when the challenge was made on Geaney.

Paul Flynn thinks it was the right decision to award Kerry a penalty for a denied goal-scoring opportunity against Cork but felt a similar offence was missed in Nowlan Park #SaturdayGame #GAA pic.twitter.com/mHjObopI5y

"I watched it inside afterwards and it didn't seem to me that there was a full goalscoring chance," said Cleary, speaking to RTE Sport after the game.

"If that's the way, there would be penalties all over the place. There were players behind him and there was a coming together of the players.

"Look at the video, it was plain to see for everyone, Dan O'Mahony was between him and the goal. Powter went into him and it was a coming together rather than a pulling down.

"You'd take that, but a black card and a penalty was more than harsh.

"The referee gave it, and I felt we were on the wrong end of a few decisions."

Yet, Cleary was happy with his side's performance and felt that