Gaelic Games: Although the successful appeal of the 48-week ban on Meath forward Graham Geraghty casts a more appealing light on his county's championship prospects, he will not feature in Sunday's widely anticipated Leinster quarter-final against Laois.
The Special Investigations Committee of the Meath County Board ruled that Geraghty, who had served 35 weeks of the punishment, should be eligible to play again. One of the most potent attackers of the last decade, his return to Seán Boylan's camp seems perfectly timed.
"The reality is that Graham hasn't really kicked a ball in over six months and is obviously lacking match sharpness and fitness," said county PRO Barry O'Gorman yesterday.
"Naturally, it is a great boost that he is available to us again but the management are fairly sure that he won't feature until after the Laois game. The feeling is that it wouldn't really be fair to consider Graham for a game of this magnitude until he gets a couple of games under his belt with his club or whatever."
Word had been circulating around the county in recent weeks that the Seneschalstown player would come in for some leniency. The appeal had been passed back from the Leinster Council to the domestic board and the decision of the SIC was to be absolute.
There had been fears that the length of the original ban, slapped on Geraghty for an incident arising from a club championship game against Ballivor on August 5th last year, would hasten his retirement from the game. Approaching 31, the player has already experienced some disenchantment with his sport and temporarily retired after the disappointing 2002 season to concentrate on playing rugby.
He marked the beginning of that summer in typically sensational fashion, flying by helicopter from a wedding in Wexford to score a match-winning goal against Louth. His hiatus from the sport ended before last summer's championship, which was again flat by Meath standards.
At the heart of a number of GAA-related controversies, he is also one of Meath's greatest players, making the transition from a smooth wing back to an explosive and exciting forward. He captained Meath to their last All-Ireland success in 1999 and last season published an honest account of his sometimes turbulent career in the autobiography, Misunderstood.
Although officially ruled out for Sunday, the scenario of his familiar blond head emerging from the dug-out with 10 minutes remaining in a tight summer derby would seem tailor-made for a player with an unerring nose for the dramatic.
Relegated to the second division of the league, Meath looked comfortable in their Leinster championship victory over Wicklow but despite the elimination of Dublin, Kildare and Offaly, optimism within the county is muted in comparison to previous seasons.
Meath played a series of challenge games against Armagh, Derry and Mayo recently and were beaten in each. However, few teams respond to big-time situations as well as Boylan's and the winner of Sunday's game will be installed as favourites for the provincial title.
Wexford will have to make do without their outstanding corner back Colm Morris for Sunday week's Leinster senior football semi-final against Westmeath.
Having received a straight red card in the closing minutes of the county's shock win over Kildare, the defender was unsuccessful in his appeal against the decision of referee Michael Curley.
Morris - accompanied by team manager Pat Roe and county secretary Michael Kinsella - attended a meeting of the GAC at Croke Park on Monday but failed in his attempt to have the sending-off rescinded, and he will now have to sit out a one-month suspension.
