NATIONAL LEAGUE: In the  latest blow to strike the Eircom League as a result of an appeal against one of its decisions,five players have been handed what are effectively disciplinary committee "credits" to compensate them for serving suspensions that should have been set aside.

The concession by the board of control follows a successful appeal by Clive Delaney in December against a suspension imposed partly as a result of disciplinary points picked up last season and carried over into the new campaign.

When his appeal was upheld by the FAI, bans on eight players in similar situations were also set aside but five others - Kevin Hunt (Bohemians), Alan Reynolds (Longford Town), Neil Fitzhenry (Finn Harps), James O'Callaghan (Monaghan United) and Stephen McGuinness (Dundalk) - had already served two- or three-match suspensions.

The next time any of the players receives a suspension, they will have the games credited to them.