Marsden's case to go further

Armagh will continue the fight to clear Diarmuid Marsden of the red card shown during last September's All-Ireland football final against Tyrone.

It was announced yesterday that the GAA's Games Administration Committee (GAC) were standing by the penalty imposed after assessing Marsden's personal hearing at Croke Park on Wednesday night.

Armagh manager Joe Kernan said he was "surprised and disappointed" at the GAC's decision but that the county would now take the appeal to the GAA's Central Council.

The manager had also attended the hearing at Croke Park along with representatives of the county board and fully supported the evidence, which he believed was entirely sufficient to exonerate Marsden.

"I'm very surprised at their decision," said Kernan, "and very disappointed to hear it. I was sure the video evidence alone was sufficient to prove that Diarmuid did not strike his opponent, and that he did not deserve to be punished. But I honestly thought as well that common sense would prevail in this matter.

"In fact I was sure we had a very good case to clear his name. So I'll definitely be talking to the county board about this evening to decide how soon we can appeal the case to Central Council. But without a doubt we'll continue to fight this case in whatever way we can."

A brief statement from Croke Park outlined the reasons behind the GAC's decision to uphold the red card. There was "full consultation of all evidence available including video footage of the incident" but it was decided by the GAC that the penalty imposed must stand.

Marsden received his red card from referee Brian White after an incident 12 minutes into the second half with Tyrone defender Philip Jordan.

While it was clear that Marsden raised his hands as Jordan rushed towards him, it appeared to be a case of self-defence rather than a deliberate strike. Jordan admitted there didn't seem to be any intent.

However, after consulting with the umpires, White showed Marsden the straight red card. Although he had already been struggling with a head injury, Marsden's unavailability for the remainder of the game was a set-back for the then defending All-Ireland champions.

Kernan left the meeting on Wednesday night confident they had done enough to clear the player: "I suppose it's always hard to really know in these situations. But we showed them the video evidence, and we all spoke on Diarmuid's behalf. So we definitely did everything that we could have done to prove that he did not deserve that red card."

Part of Marsden's penalty for the red card will be missing the first championship match of next season - in this case Armagh's opening Ulster championship game against Monaghan. Kernan, however, is adamant the appeal process will continue purely to clear Marsden's name.

"It's not about the player missing a game or serving a few weeks' ban. It's about clearing his name. The man didn't strike his opponent and that's what really matters here."