Punishment doesn’t Fitz the crime
LEE DEFENDS BANNED BOSS DAVY
WEXFORD star Lee Chin claims boss Davy Fitzgerald’s eight-week ban is ‘harsh’ and revealed the team will effectively be without a manager until mid-june.
Chin’s understanding is that Fitzgerald’s ban bars him from training Wexford until after an anticipated June 10 Leinster Championship clash with Kilkenny. Fitzgerald was suspended for encroaching onto the field during their Allianz League semi-final defeat to Tipperary and engaging two Premier players. Tipp midfielder Jason Forde was also slapped with a proposed two-match ban for a jostling incident with Fitzgerald which Chin claimed was ‘very harmless’. Chin said: “Technically, he’s not allowed to be part of training. I think that’s what’s in the rule book, he’s not supposed to be involved with us. We haven’t really been in contact since, we’re back involved in the club Championship in Wexford. “I suppose it’s something we as players will have never faced before. But look, I suppose we just have to deal with whatever is there. Davy’s backroom team is very good, they’re excellent so they’ll just pick up the pieces from here.” Attacker Chin claimed the suspension is too severe. He said: “You walk anywhere and people are asking about it but the reaction is that a lot of people think it’s very harsh and obviously they’d like to see Davy on the sidelines but unfortunately that’s not going to be the case for the first two Championship games.” Fitzgerald may have angered disciplinary chiefs by stating in interviews after the game that he ran onto the field partly to inspire his players, and that it worked. Chin said: “Look, we were all frustrated by what happened down in the corner beforehand. I think we all know it was probably a free on James Breen, a free out in that case. I think there was two or three points in it at that stage and it went back to five or six after Noel Mcgrath got the goal. “With Davy’s incident we were all frustrated but I think he kind of dealt with it for us all in terms of our own frustration. “When I looked across and seen that, it re-lit a little spark in me I suppose not to give up.” The CCCC also proposed a two-match ban for Forde which Tipp boss Michael Ryan described as ‘horrendous’. It has since been reported that Tipperary will challenge the proposed ban and that Fitzgerald is happy to speak up on the player’s behalf, if necessary. Chin added: “I would feel very sorry for the player. “I know Davy has put out a helping hand as well, that Davy is willing to assist Jason in terms of his appeal.”