Donegal to appeal against Armagh result
DONEGAL last night decided to appeal the result of last week’s Ulster Football Championship first round defeat to Armagh.
The county’s executive met in Donegal Town last night where it was decided to request an emergency meeting of the Ulster Council Activities Committee and ask for the match to be replayed.
The rather optimistic move followed on from the GAC’s decision yesterday to exonerate Oisin McConville and Martin Coll from sending off offences during Sunday’s replay at Clones.
A statement released late last night said: “In view of the findings of the GAC, which found that the referee in the Donegal v Armagh Ulster Championship replay had made two errors which had a significant impact on the result of the game, the Donegal county board will be lodging an objection, through its Ulster Council delegate, to the referee’s report”.
For Donegal’s case to be heard, the Ulster Council would have to decide not to accept the report of match referee Michael Curley, and that is extremely unlikely.
The GAC’s verdict meant another bashing for Michael Curley. Having suffered the wrath of former Wexford manager JJ Barrett following his side’s National League defeat to Cavan, the Galway man has this time suffered hurt to his pride and reputation.
McConville was dismissed after an off-the-ball clash with Donegal defender Niall McCready while Martin Coll received his marching orders for two yellow cards.
Uefa let Irish off with rap on knuckles
THE FAI escaped the wrath of Uefa with little more than a rap across the knuckles last night following their failure to stage the Republic’s Euro 2000 qualifier with Yugoslavia at Lansdowne Road earlier this month.
Europe’s governing body fined the FAI IR£25,000 for the disruption to an already fixturejammed Qualifying Group Eight, but is to allow the match to go ahead in Dublin.
The decision came as a huge relief to all those at Merrion Square, especially after Uefa had threatened to dock the Irish three points or at the very least force the game to be played at a neutral venue.
The fine, which Uefa has instructed should be donated to the Red Cross, is on top of any reimbursement necessary to either the Yugoslav FA or Uefa itself.
Yugoslavia were in Greece to prepare for the June 5 clash, but the Irish government’s refusal to grant entry visas to the squad forced the game to be called off on June 4.
McBride boost for Red Hands
TYRONE received a boost yesterday with the news that Ciaran McBride’s anticipated keyhole surgery will not after all be necessary.
McBride, who has been hampered by a knee problem for some time, was due to undergo an operation to repair cruciate ligament damage.
But an examination by a specialist has revealed that the problem is less serious than feared, and the cruciate ligament is not in fact affected.
The big Omagh man is back in training, but his participation in Sunday week’s Ulster Championship clash with Fermanagh still hangs in the balance.
McBride, who could provide a midfield option if fully fit, remains a major injury doubt, and may still face surgery at the end of the season.
