Niall Cahalane is almost certain to miss Castlehaven's Munster club semi-final with Killorglin's Laune Rangers next Sunday. The veteran Cork defender has been answering charges in connection with last month's county final replay, after which he was seen to jostle referee Niall Barrett.

Last Friday, he attended a disciplinary hearing to make his case in person and also stated that he would be calling witnesses, who would be unable to attend until this week. It is expected that their evidence will be heard by the weekend and that Cahalane's fate will also be determined by then.

Unless he is exonerated of the charge, Cahalane will serve a suspension of no less than two months and maybe as long as a year. Accordingly he will not be able to assist his club in their quest for a second Munster title in four years.

In some respects Cahalane is unlucky. The match against Laune was supposed to have been played nine days ago, but weather forced its postponement, and last weekend was ruled out as an alternative because of Cork's and Kerry's involvement in the final full day of the National Football League season this year.

Having been forced to delay their semi-final by a fortnight, the Munster Council have probably deprived Castlehaven of an influential personality.

The incident involving Cahalane and referee Barrett gained a wider audience over a week ago when it was shown on the television news - a tape had made its way to RTE over a week after the match had been played.

Castlehaven were defeated by Beara by three points and, after the whistle, Cahalane is seen running towards the referee and pushing him. Regardless of the video evidence, there was already a case to answer as the incident was included in the referee's report.

Asked yesterday whether there was any intention to stall the matter in order to allow the player to turn out at the weekend, county board PRO Jim Forbes was adamant: "No, that won't happen. It has to be dealt with before the county convention on December 14th."

Meanwhile, efforts are in progress to try to find a resolution to the impasse in Carlow which led to the postponement of last Sunday's league fixture with Mayo. Sources within the Leinster Council have indicated that there are attempts at provincial level to sort out the stand-off between the county board and its supporters' club.

Whereas the Leinster intermediaries are anxious to say nothing which would compromise the chances of reaching a satisfactory settlement, one prominent official said: "The Leinster Council was asked to become involved as a higher body to sort it out. It was right that everyone got some breathing space, but it's equally important that things don't drag on and that rumours don't get worse. I'd hope that things would move this week."

Sean O Laoire, secretary of the Games Administration Committee (GAC) which reserved its decision on whether to grant Carlow a postponement last week, was non-committal when questioned about whether the GAC had a specific outcome in mind when they decided to leave open the prospect of Carlow forfeiting the points, pending attempts to resolve the issue in the county.

"No. We're not waiting for anything in particular. They got the leeway to sort it out for themselves and we'll be holding fire on the issue. But it is the county board's responsibility to put out a team. The only thing we'll be insisting on is that any agreement has to be in accordance with the rules and done properly," he said.

Dublin, that other Leinster county without a manager, hopes to resolve the situation by the end of the week. At last night's launch by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, of former Dublin captain John O'Leary's biography, Back to the Hill, Dublin county secretary John Costello confirmed that the formal announcement would be made at next Monday's county committee meeting, but that the decision would be finalised by later this week.

He acknowledged that the public would learn the identity of the new manager at that stage and that next week's announcement would finalise the new team of selectors and management back-up.

O'Leary is still at the centre of speculation about the successor to Mickey Whelan, who resigned a month ago after a second league defeat. Others in the frame are Alan Larkin and Gay O'Driscoll of the 1970s team, and Tom Carr, O'Leary's predecessor as captain.

Further speculation that Dave Billings would have his year's suspension - imposed after last March's under-21 match between Dublin and Offaly - halved by the Leinster Council and that he would thus be available for consideration for the Dublin job would appear to be ill-founded. The Leinster Council said yesterday that there were no plans to reconsider the suspension.

At his book-launch, O'Leary criticised the "boo boys" who had catcalled Mickey Whelan at league matches this year, including the one against Offaly which triggered his resignation. O'Leary said it was important to remember that Whelan and whoever succeeded him were doing the job for nothing except a desire to see Dublin football do well.

Finally, other matters on the GAC agenda last Thursday night included a call from Louth for an investigation into how one of their players was denied medical attention during last month's fixture against Fermanagh, during which two players were sent off.

According to O Laoire: "GAC did nothing about an incident brought to its attention by Louth in which it was alleged that the match official didn't permit a doctor to come onto the pitch. This was investigated and video evidence viewed, but no further action was deemed necessary."

The four Donegal and Armagh players sent off at Lurgan over two weeks ago have yet to be informed of their suspensions and, pending this, there will be no public announcement.