THE GAA's occasional talent for contriving no-win situations was given full expression yesterday as the Mayo and Meath county boards smarted under the impact of £5,000 fines and hefty suspensions which will wipe out half their first-choice teams for the remainder of the pre-Christmas National League programme.
Meath are furious at the balance of blame implicit in the aggregate of their players suspensions being significantly greater than Mayo's, whereas Mayo are angry at what they see as their having been dragged into a situation that could have been avoided had there been a greater consistency of refereeing this summer.
Both camps also believe that the GAC had essentially made up their minds before Monday night's hearings and that the calling of 15 players and officials was merely a cosmetic exercise.
Not even Croke Park could count themselves satisfied as news of the disciplinary action was leaked early yesterday to Dublin local radio station 98FM. Consequently, the suspensions were public knowledge before they had even been faxed from Croke Park.
As expected, heavy suspensions were handed out to all 15 players who had been summoned to Monday night's GAC meeting. Meath bore the brunt of the GAC's wrath, with their mid-fielder Jimmy McGuinness getting six months. Wing back Colm Coyle, who was sent off during the match, received four months centre back Enda McManus got three and the five remaining Meath players got two months each.
Of the seven Mayo players just one, corner-forward Ray Dempsey with three months, received more than two months' suspension. All suspensions, with the exception of Coyle's and McHale's (both players have been under automatic suspension since being given the line in the All-Ireland replay) are to run from last Monday night.
Both counties said that they will be considering an appeal of the GAC decision to the Central Council of the GAA.
The offences for which the suspensions were handed down were mostly "striking or attempting to strike" but McGuinness's lengthier suspension was for "kicking or attempting to kick" Coyle's four-month suspension is believed to have been imposed because of the frequency of the transgression and McManus's additional punishment is believed to be due to the gravity of his offence.
In Dempsey's case, the additional month is likely to reflect the fact that he had been sent off within the previous two years for a similar offence a situation which, according to the rules, requires a doubling of the minimum sentence.
Reaction in Meath was predictably unhappy. "I think it's disgusting," said county PRO Brendan Cummins about the fact that the decision had been leaked before the counties had been notified. Attitudes within Meath to the actual suspensions were also angry, according to Cummins.
"When you see Liam McHale getting off relatively lightly after he had run 30 yards to get involved and prolonged it (the fight) and worsened it, it's natural people are angry.
Cummins was also extremely angry about Mayo midfielder David Brady's apparently provocative patting of John McDermott's posterior. "I couldn't believe it," said Cummins. "Feeling his backside and the media hasn't tackled it, either." The practical effect on the county team for the current, National Football League campaign will be fairly drastic. On Sunday, according to Cummins, Meath will be able to field only f9ur of their All-Ireland winning line-up as Colm Brady, Brendan Reilly and Barry Callaghan are injured.
Club activities in both counties will also be affected. McGuinness will now be unavailable to Kilmessan in the county hurling final while Coyle and Graham Geraghty (Seneschalstown) and Enda MeManus (Dunboyne) are likely to play no further part in the county football championship. Trevor Giles will be unable to assist Skryne in the under-21 championship.
In Mayo, only Knockmore, Ray Dempsey's club, suffer championship disadvantage. They have reached the Connacht club semifinal and will have to see out their provincial campaign without Dempsey. The county team, however, hoping to make an impression in their first year back in Division Two after promotion, will be missing nearly half their first team.
Mayo officials met informally last night to consider their response to the GAC decision. County secretary Sean Feeney said that a statement would be released today or tomorrow. "The show is over now, except maybe for an appeal." Referring to the mood in the county, he said that the press had come in for a lot of criticism. "It's felt that there's been a concerted witch hunt and a number of articles in the national media have annoyed people, particularly one which said Liam McHale struck someone 12 times".
Feeney was also critical of what he saw as inconsistencies in the application of the rules. "If they had applied the mules across the board, this may not have arisen. There's inconsistency," he said.
"We don't begrudge Meath their All-Ireland, they won the match but people say we got off lightly (with the suspensions). We look at the overall picture and don't see it that way."
