Key footballer and hurler get red cards overturned by Offaly GAA Hearings Committee
Plenty of debate over Hearings Committee decision on red card
TWO key club players got red cards overturned at a meeting of the Offaly GAA Hearings Committee on Monday evening.
Seir Kieran senior B hurler Barry Kealey and St Brigid's intermediate footballer Cian Donohue got a reprieve after their club produced video evidence that showed the referee had errored and a red card shouldn't have been shown.
Barry Kealey was sent off by referee Stephen Connolly (Kilcormac-Killoughey) near the end of their Senior “B” Hurling Championship win over Clara a couple of weeks ago after a collision with county player Conor Doyle.
Footage of that clash was widely circulated afterwards and it was inevitable that Seir Kieran would seek a hearing and not accept the proposed one match ban. He duly got this red rescinded on Monday evening and is now free to play in Saturday's Senior “B” Hurling Championship semi-final against Kilcormac-Killoughey. The decision to rescind that one, however, will be queried by referees and will be the centre of considerable debate, in Clara and elsewhere.
It is one of those very difficult decisions for a Hearings Committee. The challenge looked a red card offence from one angle of the videos in circulation, more innocuous from another and your'e only hope of making a call on them would be to view on a big screen and not a phone.
If there will be talk about the Kealey exoneration, there will be very little about the Donohue decision.
It was widely anticipated that former county footballer Cian Donohue would be able to get his red card cancelled. There was consternation in the St Brigid's camp when he was sent off in the dying moments of their Intermediate Football Championship quarter-final win over Gracefield on Friday evening. A brief melee had erupted after Donohue was tackled by Gracefield players while carrying the ball forward.
It ended with Donohue and St Brigid's sub Conor Storey shown reds by referee Marius Stones and there was consternation in the Croghan camp as they had an easy win in the bag at that stage and the loss of Donohue for the semi-final against Ferbane would have been an unmitigated disaster.
Donohue had played very well for St Brigid's and while the melee was messy and completely unnecessary, it was also fairly harmless. It looked like Donohue hadn't struck and St Brigid's officials immediately went to view footage of the incident, before the final whistle was even blown.
A hearing was inevitable and St Brigid's will be relieved that their appeal was successful and Donohue can play in the semi-final on Friday, September 25.
Tullamore will be without Cillian Martin for the Senior “B” Football Championship final against Ballinagar on September 26. Martin, a key member of the Offaly team that lost to Tipperary in the 2022 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship final, got a red card after the final whistle of their group loss to Tubber for words he directed at referee Eamon O'Connor.
A son of 1990s hurling hero, Kevin Martin, he was frustrated when advantage was not allowed when he had the ball in hand and a clear goal scoring chance late on in that game - the whistle had been blown, play was called back for a tap over free and Cillian Martin has received a two game ban for his red card – he missed Saturday's dramatic semi-final win over Daingean and will also be out for the final. He is only suspended for that grade, however, and Tullamore had him warmed up and ready to go in late on in Sunday's easy Senior Football Championship quarter-final win over Ballycommon.
County midfielder Aaron Leavy had to sit out that game for them after being sent off a few moments after coming on in Tullamore's group loss to Rhode. Marius Stones was also the referee that day and Leavy and Tullamore contested the red card but were denied a hearing when their request was ruled out of order for an error in the appeal.