GAELIC GAMES NEWS ROUND-UP:TIME is running out if the Seán Johnston transfer request is to enable the former Cavan player to line out for Kildare this summer, as the latter county board has indicated there are no plans to refix championship matches due for the weekend after next.
Under the new rule adopted at last month’s congress any player who wishes to move to another county must first play championship for his new club.
Johnston’s attempts to transfer from his home club Cavan Gaels to St Kevin’s have been ongoing all year and the latest application to the Central Competitions Control Committee is in process. The CCCC are expected to consider the matter further this evening but no decision is likely.
Essentially the player needs approval in time to line out for St Kevin’s in the club’s championship fixture against St Mary’s Leixlip on Saturday week if he is to form part of Kieran McGeeney’s plans for the summer.
Asked would the county consider rescheduling the match, Kildare secretary Kathleen O’Neill said that the matter wasn’t under consideration.
“I wouldn’t think there’ll be any moving the fixture,” she told this newspaper. “That weekend has been designated for clubs and no one’s looking for any changes. We’re bound by the rule and it’s out of our hands. There’s a new committee in Croke Park dealing with the matter and we’ll have to wait for their decision.”
Johnston’s resubmitted case was heard on Tuesday night by the new CCCC, who considered the player’s updated documentation in support of his claim that he now lives in Kildare in Straffan although his employment continues to be in Cavan.
It is now intended to listen to the representations of both Johnston’s club Cavan Gaels and the Cavan County Board, neither of whom has consented to the transfer request.
In a parallel development Simon Moroney, chair of the CCCC, has stepped aside from hearing the application. Former Munster secretary Moroney has been appointed by Croke Park to liaise with Kildare as an adviser in respect of a €300,000 advance to the county but he withdrew from the hearing because he had previously chaired the old Central Appeals Committee, which earlier this year rejected Johnston’s appeal after a previous transfer request had been turned down.
The question of Johnston’s residence isn’t the only issue of relevance to the application as the previous CCCC indicated when considering the matter earlier this year. Concerns were also expressed on the ethical grounds – the undesirability of allowing effectively free movement of players between counties.
Should the CCCC come down in favour of the player, who was dropped from the Cavan panel for this season, in the next week Johnston will be able to meet the deadline but rejection would leave very little time to exercise a right of appeal and if necessary, recourse to the GAA’s independent arbitration service, the Disputes Resolution Authority.
Meanwhile, with the championship starting in earnest the weekend after next, there is good news for Donegal with manager Jim McGuinness optimistic that All Star Karl Lacey can line out for the Ulster champions despite not having appeared as hoped, in last weekend’s challenge match against Mayo.
“Hopefully he’ll play a part for us in Breffni Park,” said McGuinness yesterday. “He trained last night and although it wasn’t at full intensity, fingers crossed he’ll be okay for Sunday week.”
Lacey is recovering from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since the county preserved its Division One status on the last day of the league season.
Team captain Michael Murphy won’t, however, be available.
“We’re happy to have him back jogging in the next two weeks,” according to McGuinness, “and if we can get a good result against Cavan, hopefully he’ll be back for the next match against Derry (on June 16th).”
There was less encouraging news for Kilkenny, as it emerged that hurler of the year and All star centrefielder Michael Fennelly looks set to miss the Leinster hurling championship after it emerged his ankle injury is more serious than initially thought.
The Ballyhale Shamrocks clubman sustained the injury in the league final win over Cork, but it was hoped after a preliminary scan that he would be recovered within four to six weeks. Further medical examination revealed, however, he had fractured a bone in his foot and suffered ligament damage.
He will undergo more tests this week before a decision is made on his availability for the remainder of the season. The defending All-Ireland champions are scheduled to begin their campaign with a Leinster semi-final, most likely against Dublin, on June 23rd.
The final is just nine weeks away on July 8th, meaning Fennelly’s first game of the championship could well be the semi-finals of the championship in mid-August.
All-Ireland club junior champions St Patrick’s Ballyraggett have launched an updated publication Maroon Days to commemorate a great year for the Kilkenny club, which also won the county under-21 championship for the first time.
Copies, priced at €7, are available at the business premises in Ballyragget, at In Touch, Market Yard, Kilkenny, or direct from Jim Delaney on 087 804 3203.
