Tipperary hold out just a little hope

Tipperary are only hopeful at best that Brian O'Meara will be back in the picture for next month's All-Ireland hurling final with Galway.

O'Meara was shown a straight red card along with Wexford's Liam Dunne in the course of Saturday's semi-final replay, an offence which carries a minimum one-month suspension, and even with widespread sympathy in Tipperary and elsewhere that the players were harshly treated, the evidence to help clear his name is minimal.

The off-the-ball incident occurred shortly before half-time but doubts remain as to how much of it, if any, was seen by Offaly referee Pat Horan. Horan's decision was only made in consultation with linesman Pat Ahern but the television pictures clearly revealed the close-range sparring with hurls between the two players.

Manager Nicky English described the incident as a "real downer" in an otherwise memorable afternoon, but yesterday he reiterated his hopes that O'Meara may be cleared to play in the final.

"Of course, I feel sorry for him but there is a lot of general sympathy as well," said English. "People from all over the place and even Wexford have the realisation that something needs to be done. I don't think anyone feels that Brian O'Meara should miss out on an All-Ireland final because of this.

"I know that Pat Horan is a good hurling referee but there is a question over whether he saw the incident or not. But Brian will have his personal hearing and at the end of the day we can only be hopeful that justice will be done."

The county board also announced their support for the Mullinahone player, yet county secretary Michael O'Brien was yesterday no more than hopeful that the Games Administration Committee (GAC) would deal favourably with the case.

"The first thing is to wait for the referee's report, which we expect later in the week," he said. "It's not a question of appealing but we will be looking for a personal hearing for Brian, as all cases with players facing suspension are entitled to a personal hearing."

"We believe Pat Horan is a very experienced hurling referee but we believe he didn't see the incident. If he did we believe he wouldn't have sent the players off. And we would be hopeful the GAC will look favourably on our situation."

The county board also have the option of producing video evidence but that is unlikely to be conclusive if presented. The incident may not have been particularly malicious, but the players are seen to be striking with the hurls and the rules on that matter are clear.

Video evidence, however, was last month used to clear Mayo defender Ray Connelly, who was red-carded late in the Connacht football final against Roscommon.

Connelly was sent to the line for an apparent strike on Roscommon's Frankie Dolan but the video evidence in that case was showed clearly that the offence didn't actually occur, while it was also acknowledged that the referee didn't see the incident.

English was nonetheless looking forward to the unexpected final matching with Galway. The general expectation was Kilkenny would come through, but English hadn't fallen into the trap of assuming they would be playing the All-Ireland champions.

"No, I can't say I was too surprised. To be honest I felt it would be very close, and I thought the odds against Galway were a bit unrealistic. It might have been unexpected alright, but that's the beauty of hurling and that's why the crowds keep coming out.

"And they were very, very impressive. They looked very fit and very hungry and we now have a very big challenge ahead of us. I know we'll have to raise our game even higher now.

"But we didn't assume anything about the final because we were just concerned about getting there ourselves."

Tipperary and Galway will be no strangers to each other: "Well, we've played them in the previous two league finals and then in the semi-final this year. There was also the quarter-final last year when we lost to them, so this is a good opportunity now to put that right."

Meanwhile, the case of Galway's red-carded player Gregory Kennedy is already decided, and he won't be prevented from playing in the All-Ireland final on September 9th. Kennedy was sent off shortly before half-time after catching the head of DJ Carey as the Kilkenny player slipped close to the sideline. Having being previously booked, referee Pat O'Connor had little choice but to show him a second yellow and then the red card. Such an offence carries no suspension.

Meanwhile, the GAC were due to decide on the fate of Dublin football manager Tom Carr in a meeting last night.

His confrontation with Galway referee Mick Curley in the drawn quarter-final with Kerry already landed him an immediate sideline ban and the full length of his suspension was to be revealed later today, however, the case was not heard because Carr is currently out of the country.