No appeal from Derrytresk

BY LAST night Croke Park officials had not yet received any appeal from Tyrone club Derrytresk against the penalties imposed by the Central Hearing Committee on Wednesday.

The deadline for lodging the appeal falls this morning and with the All-Ireland junior final scheduled for tomorrow afternoon in Croke Park, time has nearly run out for any of the match-based bans to be challenged.

The punishments included seven player suspensions, restrictions on the team’s sideline personnel and a five-year ban from the Ulster and All-Ireland championships.

The club was still considering its response last night, but the view of GAA officials was that appeals were unlikely to be sought against the player suspensions and sideline restrictions. The five-year ban is, however, likely to be challenged, but there will be no immediate urgency to conduct the hearing.

The GAA has already warned that it would call off the junior final between Derrytresk and Clonbur if there was insufficient time to schedule appeals and that the re-fixture would be unlikely to take place at Croke Park.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has criticised media coverage of the Derrytresk-Dromid Pearses All-Ireland semi-final, incidents in which led to the suspensions.

“The extremely subjective nature of the reporting that has gone on since Derrytresk qualified for the All-Ireland club Junior Football Championship final by overcoming Dromid Pearses in the semi-final in Portlaoise a couple of weeks ago has been nothing short of disgraceful.

“The hysteria drummed up by sections of the print media, allied by the numerous phone-ins to radio stations, would have you believe this was some kind of slaughter of the innocents with all the culpability resting squarely on the shoulders of the Tyrone and Ulster champions.”

Meanwhile, John Dalton has become the latest Kilkenny hurler to announce his retirement from intercounty action. Attributing his decision to work commitments, the 26-year-old Carrickshock defender follows in the footsteps of Eddie Brennan and Michael Kavanagh and James Fitzpatrick.

Dalton won five All-Ireland medals as a member of the Kilkenny panel, six provincial championships and two NHL titles.

Finally, Kevin Cassidy appears to have closed the door on a possible return to the Donegal panel, which were fuelled last week when county manager Jim McGuinness hinted that there could be a way back for the Gaoth Dóbhair man.

Asked by Dara Ó Cinnéide on TG4’s Seo Spóirt had he, or Jim McGuinnness, closed the door on a possible return to the county panel, the 30-year -old said: “That is the end of it yes.”