McMahon set to miss Carlow clash
Dubs star hit by one-game suspension
PHILLY McMAHON will miss Dublin’s Leinster SFC opener with Carlow on June 3 after being hit with a onegame ban for using “abusive language towards a referee” during his side’s league final defeat to Kerry.
McMahon wasn’t sanctioned for the offence during the game by match official Paddy Neilan, although he did pick up a yellow card for a second-half foul on Paul Geaney, but he was charged by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) and chose not to accept the ban.
The 29-year-old attended a meeting of Croke Park’s Central Hearings Committee (CHC) last night where the suspension was handed down and it’s unclear at this stage whether Dublin will proceed to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC).
It’s a major shock for Dublin supporters given that there was no mention in the public domain of any disciplinary action being taken against any player and is one of the first cases of its kind with the Ballymun Kickhams corner-back now likely to miss their quarter-final clash with the Barrowsiders.
In other GAA disciplinary news, Westmeath hurler Derek McNicholas looks likely to miss their derby clash with Offaly on Saturday evening after being hit with a one-game ban following a red card against Meath in their Leinster SHC round-robin clash.
Carlow manager, Turlough O’Brien has, meanwhile, hit out at “ridiculous levels of negativity” in coverage of the football championships.
“We’re devils in this country for running down ourselves and what we do,” he said. “And when it comes to the football championships, we get an awful lot of knocking stuff, especially at this time of year when they are starting off. The naysayers are out in force with plenty of negative opinions.
“What’s the point? Nothing good anyway. All it does is create a pessimism.
“Talking about how some counties have no chance of doing anything and how they are wasting their time being involved becomes noise in the background and can be very destructive. It’s not good for players to hear that sort of stuff.
“Fair play to them, most ignore it but why should they have to listen to it in the first place? Do people commenting on the games think they’re doing anyone a favour by saying players are wasting their time by being involved?”