Attack in Armagh game

[Bud Wiser]

Well since I stuck my oar into Armaghs business I have watched a few football games on TV and here we have playbacks for events that the ref did not see and you have players like Galvin, and if what I am hearing, Tomas O Se being suspended for what at the end of the day was handbags stuff.  Football games played in the championship are now reduced to womens stuff, the slightest shoulder in the wrong place and it is a free or a yellow card.

The GAA now, and I mean immediately, need to sort out the gap that exists between the pro's and the club games and of course Laois are as bad as anyone.  If it is unacceptable at inter county level it should not be acceptable at club level and it would appear that when it comes to witnesses to thuggery Armagh are not on their own.

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/hurling/Furious-RathdowneyErrill-call-for-case.6389874.jp

[rionach 4]

Compared to what happened to Kevin Nugent it may appear a lot less. Though Had Tomas connected fully on any one of three occasions Stephen Kelly would have been in trouble.
The Club involved had until 8 0clock last night to name the player. They have not yet done so and are reluctant to do so due to the possibilty of legal action.
I am also aware that it may be unlikely that legal action will be taken by the injured Party.
Given his name to a county board investigating committee does not infringe on any of his legal rights(The accused) regarding police involvement.
The county board are under no obligation to give the police any results of the enquiry whatsoever.
Court action is a totally different ball game.
So far the fact is that up until 8 oclock last night the club had refused to name him and seem to be closing ranks.
Sad really

[Bud Wiser]

In the link provided in my last post it appears that a player from Clonaslee, yes, that club again, ran up and struck a player on the head with a hurley and knocked him unconcious. 


Rathdowney-Errill GAA club have called for the disciplinary case into how one of their young players was knocked unconscious in a recent game to be re-opened after the Clonaslee-St Manman's player involved escaped punishment and had his 16-week suspension lifted.
But Laois County Board have said that under rule the case can't be re-visited, and that the matter is now closed. Darren Houlihan was knocked out during Rathdowney-Errill's ACHL Division 2 clash against Clonaslee-St Manman's on May 17, and the game was abandoned when an ambulance had to be called to bring Houlihan to Tullamore General Hospital.

A Clonaslee player was suspended for 16 weeks after an investigation by the Laois Competitions Control Committee (CCC) but, after seeking a hearing with the County Hearings Committee (CHC), the case was dropped because of a lack of witnesses. Clonaslee failed to identify the player involved but Rathdowney-Errill had witnesses. However, they didn't show up at the CHC meeting because they weren't informed by Laois county board.

"Under rule when a case is heard, it can't be re-opened," said Laois GAA chairman Brian Allen. "We can certainly understand Rathdowney-Errill's frustration, and we sympathise with them, but the case is closed unfortunately and there is nothing we can do. The referee didn't see the incident and there was no independent witness. If it goes to an appeal outside the county, can we defend it?"

However, Rathdowney-Errill are raging at how the Clonaslee-St Manman's player has escaped without any censure and have issued a wide-ranging statement in relation to the issue, and the story that appeared in last week's Leinster Express.

"We refer to your article on June 23 last concerning the blatant miscarriage of justice in that nobody has been held accountable for our player Darren Houlihan being knocked unconscious following an off the ball strike to the head," read the statement.

The statement went on to say that club were happy to abide by the original 16-week suspension handed out, but not by the subsequent appeal.

"Our witnesses were not called, nor were they informed that they should have been called. This appeal should have been managed in a manner that was not only correct and just, but could be seen to be so in every aspect," the club contended. "By omitting the relevant facts and witness accounts, a four-month suspension on day one turned into a total dismissal on day two. The county board, namely the Hearings Committee, relied on those who didn't see anything."

Rathdowney-Errill chairman, Leonard Moore added that the club aren't giving up having the matter dealt with. "We will explore every avenue open to us," he said. "If something like this happened in our club, we'd have no problem identifying the player. We had an incident before and we gave one of our own players a verbal warning. It's just not good enough to say that this was 'a bit of a breakdown', we're not taking this lying down. Nobody has been held accountable and nothing has been done about it."

How long before someone dies as a result of one of these incidents? The gombeenism of the officials from clubs is a stain oin the GAA that we can do without.  How can we on one hand have coaches approaching schools and asking teachers to get children involved on one hand and have cattle mart meetings and nods and winks to allow such thuggery continue?

[rionach 4]

My sentiments exactly bud wiser . It's good to see some people have a little perspective when it comes to the se matters . Keep highlighting these issues. I support you 100%

[Hardy]

How long before someone dies as a result of one of these incidents? The gombeenism of the officials from clubs is a stain oin the GAA that we can do without.  How can we on one hand have coaches approaching schools and asking teachers to get children involved on one hand and have cattle mart meetings and nods and winks to allow such thuggery continue?

I agree 100%.

It should be clear to the even most gombeenish of officials that a game like hurling cannot continue to exist unless the most stringent sanctions on the use of the hurley as a weapon are applied. If local officials cannot be trusted to apply them then we need to have the civil authorities involved by rule. But I don't think we should be waiting for the rule. Any witness at that match who cares for the future of the game should make a report to the guards.

[All of a Sludden]

Did I hear correctly that the offender got a 48 week ban? If so it has been kept very quiet.

[tyroneboi]

Did I hear correctly that the offender got a 48 week ban? If so it has been kept very quiet.

It was reported as that in the Irish News last week or the week before.

[fitzroyalty]

Correct. The Maghery player (Nugent) was back playing at the weekend in his club's win in the SFC. Interesting that Maghery play Culloville this weekend.

[nrico2006]

Did I hear correctly that the offender got a 48 week ban? If so it has been kept very quiet.

Is that it?