Referee Coldrick controversially[4] issued red cards to Seán Kelly and Aidan Nugent, even though replays suggested they were acting as peacemakers.

Called as "chaotic and hair-raising" by RTÉ, it overshadowed and delayed the main game of the day, between "two A-listers from the 2010s", Kerry vs Mayo.

[8][9][10] Des Cahill presented the highlights programme on RTÉ2 that night, with analysis from Seán Cavanagh, Colm Cooper and Ciarán Whelan.

[17] Armagh were six points and one man down after Greg McCabe was shown a straight red card for colliding with Galway player Matthew Tierney.

[22] Before extra-time got underway, referee Coldrick could be seen spending a great deal of time speaking with the other match officials.

[5][6] Suggestions that their roles as captains might have led to their dismissal were contradicated by the Irish Independent which said no rule exists for this — "But there may be acknowledgement that they were identified in error and that would lay out a strong case for any proposed suspension to be overturned.

Galway's Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, Robert Finnerty and Matthew Tierney each scored their penalties, with Tierney's the decisive kick after Armagh's Stefan Campbell sent his penalty wide, Rian O'Neill hit his into the net and Conor Turbitt hit his effort against the post.

"[5] Penalty kicksShane Walsh YDamien Comer YRobert Finnerty YMatthew Tierney Y Penalty kicksStefan Campbell NRian O'Neill YConor Turbitt N Man of the Match: Cillian McDaid (Galway) Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney had a confrontation with a BBC journalist after the game.

[31][32] One of the first reactions to the scenes before the extra-time period was provided by Oisín McConville (himself a former player with Armagh), who was covering the game live as a television analyst for RTÉ.

[10][9] Des Cahill presented the highlights programme on RTÉ2 that night, with analysis from Seán Cavanagh, Colm Cooper and Ciarán Whelan.

Whelan responded: "But he doesn't react in any aggressive way… and he's actually trying to calm the situation, and you can see he's aggrieved, he's annoyed, and why they were picked out or sent off… [voice trailing away]" Cavanagh then said: "I think the referee should have to answer those questions as well.

[4] RTÉ analyst McConville, speaking later to the BBC, said: "I think it's right that he [Tiernan Kelly] pays as in suspension, but I also think that trial by social media is not the way to answer this, we're talking about a human being here.

[37] Eamonn Sweeney wrote in the Irish Independent: "The GAA shouldn't just impose a long suspension on the imbecile who gouged Damien Comer's eyes at Croke Park, they should consider doing the same thing to Armagh".

The website reported: "'We at the GAA just want to say this man is a hero — to see an opposition player lose a contact lens and quickly act to put it back on his eye.

It must have been terrifying for Damien Comer to have blurry vision for those moments before this brave soul aggressively jammed the contact lens back onto his eye.

The official also backed referee David Coldrick's decision to send off Galway's Seán Kelly for failing to come to the aid of his teammate.

Sadly, the heroic moment of unparalleled courage wasn’t enough to fully take the attention away from Mayo bottling it yet again in their semi-final against Kerry.

[40] Seán Moran of The Irish Times wrote: "This most tumultuous All-Ireland quarter-final, probably ever, featured so many extraordinary elements: the first penalty shootout at such an advanced stage [and] another depressing free-for-all, as the teams came off after the end of normal time…"[24] Colm Keys of the Irish Independent said "The stigma of the eye-gouge will follow Armagh around for some time".

[41] Former President Liam O'Neill told Morning Ireland the following day that "we're talking about violence and that is a huge pity".

"[5] When pressed on the lack of belief that the GAA's disciplinary system stood up to scrutiny, O'Neill responded: "That has to be admitted, that we have to tidy up our act.

We had that at one stage where the black card lasted for an entire game, that meant people weren't doing the sort of things they’re doing now.

"[5] Monaghan's Pat McEnaney — the retired referee and veteran of four All-Ireland SFC finals — also thought teams should be in dressing rooms at opposite sides of the stadium.

I would make one exception — the All-Ireland final — as the one game you are allowed not to miss and you serve your suspension the following year… There's two disappointing things.

[5] McEnaney also opposed Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney's claim that the GAA was at fault for allowing the teams to exit the pitch together: "Galway were due down the tunnel first at half time.

[43][44] Joe Bergin described Coldrick's decision to issue red cards to Kelly and Nugent as "completely bonkers".

The whole thing was a shambles and I can imagine the Mayo and Kerry players and officials inside [waiting for their game that was scheduled to follow] must have been really annoyed by what was allowed to happen.

[47] O'Rourke also dismissed such as ideas as having teams go down separate tunnels and limiting the presence of extended panels on the pitch as evading personal responsibility at the heart of the issue.

[49] O'Rourke later wrote in the Sunday Independent: "Seán Kelly acted with incredible restraint during the fracas at the end of normal time, but was put on death row for next weekend's All-Ireland semi-final.

And the most disappointing thing about (Sunday's) game is the number of occasions when you could clearly see an Armagh player setting out to injure an opponent… The eye-gouger, no doubt, will get 12 months as a minimum… Possibly longer than that.

[63][64] Seán Kelly, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and a former GAA president himself, told RTÉ Radio: "I would think that the eye-gouging incident is on a different level and is something that we do not want to see ever happening again in the GAA and I think the one way to make sure that doesn’t happen is by having a very strong deterrent and I would hope that that would be reflected in the punishment dished out to the perpetrator.