CORK FACE an anxious wait to see if the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) pursue an incident in Sunday’s Allianz National Hurling League game against Tipperary.
Midway through the second half, Cork forward Pat Horgan appeared to direct the butt of his hurl into the body of Tipperary defender Declan Fanning, who then fell to the ground.
Match referee James McGrath of Westmeath was close at hand, but in fact choose to book Fanning, and awarded the free to Cork – which Horgan promptly sent between the posts. Horgan ended up with 1-7 of Cork’s 1-16 to 1-15 victory.
The CCCC have revisited several league incidents this season, which the match referee may or may not have dealt with at the time.
In the opening round of the football league, Tyrone’s Justin McMahon, Conor Gormley and Martin Penrose and Derry’s Eoin Bradley were proposed with four-week bans after the CCCC revisited video footage of their game, despite the fact that all four players were originally yellow-carded.
Kerry’s Paul Galvin is also still serving an eight-week ban after being sent off against Cork in the second round, and where the CCCC doubled the four-week ban to eight weeks because the player had been found guilty of a similar Category II offence in the previous 48 weeks. Kerry launched an appeal on the basis that the video evidence suggested Galvin was innocent, but that appeal failed.
Meanwhile, Derry forward Paddy Bradley is in danger of missing their Ulster football championship opener against Armagh on May 16th after sustaining a hamstring tear playing in a club match at the weekend.
Derry’s all-time leading scorer pulled up after 40 minutes of Glenullin’s league game with Newbridge on Saturday evening, and had to be carried off the pitch.
Bradley will now definitely miss Derry’s final league game against Galway this Sunday, where only a freak set of results elsewhere would see them fight off relegation.
With an expected recovery period of between six and eight weeks, Bradley is clearly in a race against time to be fit for the Armagh game in Celtic Park on May 16th.
The former All Star forward also missed the start of this season with a troublesome heel, and has played just three times for Derry this season.
Derry have already lost Séamus Bradley (cruciate ligament) for the rest of the season, with Enda Lynn, Liam Hinphey and Andrew McCartney having quit the panel since the season began.
