Carton ruling a technical knockout

Gaelic Games Championship 2007The GAA's disciplinary machinery has yet again invited ridicule by upholding on a technicality Peadar Carton's appeal to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC) against an eight-week ban, which would have ruled him out of Sunday's All-Ireland under-21 final.

The origin of the technicality is what surprises, since it seems the CAC themselves perpetrated the rule violation that led them to let Carton off.

The Central Hearings Committee (CHC) suspended the Dublin hurler for eight weeks following an incident with Tipperary's Paul Curran - who suffered a broken jaw - in the All-Ireland senior championship qualifier on July 7th.

While the case was under appeal, Carton played for the Dublin under-21s in their Leinster final win over Offaly on July 18th, scoring a goal and two points, and the All-Ireland semi-final win over Derry on August 18th.

The CAC sent the case back to the hearings committee, citing procedural irregularities. Last week the CHC reheard the case and upheld the suspension, thereby ruling Carton out of Sunday's under-21 final against Galway.

On Tuesday night the Dublin board appealed to the CAC once more (citing as part of their argument the case earlier this year of the Derry footballer Paddy Bradley). The CAC upheld the appeal on the grounds the CHC were not allowed hear a case twice - despite the fact they, the CAC, were the ones who had sent it back to the CHC.

Confused? You should be. CAC chairman Jim Forbes refused to comment yesterday while Croke Park further muddied the waters with the following statement.

"The GAA has stated that following the decision of the Central Appeals Committee in the Peadar Carton case, the implications are being considered. It is hoped that a further statement will be issued tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon."

In short, this remains a live issue and Carton may yet miss Sunday's game despite being named in Seán Lane's team last night.

Carton is named at right corner forward, the other notable change seeing Joey Boland switched from wing forward to wing back.

Galway manager Vincent Mullins will name his team after training tonight, the only injury concern being captain Kevin Hynes.

Meanwhile, the Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has been granted another three years in charge of the county football team after guiding them to an Ulster title in 2007.

If Harte sees out this term he will have been in charge for eight seasons. During his five years to date he has led Tyrone to All-Ireland titles in 2003 and 2005 but this season ended in disappointment when Tyrone lost to Meath in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

Liam Sammon was last night handed the job of bringing the All-Ireland senior title back to Galway; he takes over for a three-year spell.

Sammon, corner forward when Galway completed their unforgettable three-in-a-row in 1966, succeeds Peter Ford, whose three-year term ended when his team lost to Meath in the qualifiers.

Sammon is a highly qualified coach who has trained school, club, and county teams as well as the Ireland team for the International Rules series against Australia.

Four years ago he produced the Gaelic Football Coaching Book and has long been recognised as a coach who places heavy emphasis on the skills of the game.

He played in four senior All-Ireland finals but his first, in 1966, was his only win. He was captain when Galway lost to Offaly in 1971 and was again skipper two years later when Cork won.

There was no luck for Sammon in 1974, when Paddy Cullen saved a penalty from him as Dublin carved out victory by 0-14 to 1-6.

The GAA's annual congress will be held in Sligo next year for the first time since 1974. A president-elect to succeed Nickey Brennan will be decided at the congress to be held on April 11th and 12th.

DUBLIN (Under-21 HC v Galway): P Curtin; R Drumgoole, P Callaghan, D Webster; K Dunne, T Brady, J Boland; A McCrabbe, J McCaffrey; E Moran, R O'Carroll, D Connolly; P Carton, D O'Dwyer, S Durkin.