GAELIC GAMES: The Tyrone County Board have decided not to appeal the suspensions handed down on three of their players by the GAA's Central Disciplinary Committee (CDC) arising out of the brawls during the National Football League against Dublin in Omagh earlier in the month.
Preferring not to influence the players in any way, Tyrone have decided to allow the players to make their own choice, and merely consulted with them on the matter when the team came together for a gym training session last night.
However, the county board have decided that they won't appeal the €10,000 fine imposed on them by the CDC for bringing the game into disrepute.
Tyrone county secretary Dominic McCaughey explained yesterday that the players should be allowed to make up their own minds. "The official rules states that it's up to the players to decide to appeal," he said, "and we didn't want to be seen to be influencing that. So there are really only two possibilities now, in that the players can decide to appeal or not to appeal.
"But we said we'd let the players discuss that themselves at gym training before taking the matter any further. We did talk ourselves about the fine, and decided that we wouldn't be appealing it."
McCaughey admitted there was still some confusion over how long the players had to decide on their appeal. Officially they get three days from the receipt of written notice, which for some of the players was only received yesterday morning. The official guide doesn't state if the three days refer to working days, which effectively means the players have until Sunday evening to submit their appeal to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC) to be sure it will be heard.
The Tyrone players involved are Michael McGee, Owen Mulligan and Kevin Hughes.
The Dublin County Board have also indicated that they won't appeal their €10,000 fine, but that their players were set to appeal.
In the meantime Tyrone are out again on Sunday in the McKenna Cup final against Monaghan. when Philip Jordan and Gavin Devlin will make their first appearances of the season. The pair have been drafted into the half-back line.
Manager Mickey Harte has made four changes in all from the team that lost to Fermanagh in the National League almost a fortnight ago.
Ciarán Gourley has been asked to display his versatility by switching from corner back to midfield, opening the door for Eoghan Bradley to come into the defence, while Conor Gormley drops back from the centre of the defence to full back, replacing Cormac McGinley.
There is one change in attack, with Raymond Mulgrew coming in for Ryan Mellon. Brian McGuigan has recovered from a knee injury sustained early on against Fermanagh and takes his place at centre forward.
Monaghan manager Seamus McEnaney's options were limited when he picked his team. Dick Clerkin is out injured while Paul McGuigan, Bernard O'Brien and Benny McKenna played with the colleges in the competitions and so are ruled out.
James Coyle, who hasn't played since Monaghan went out of the championship last year, is named at full back and Colm Flanagan, who missed the league game against Dublin, is in the corner.
Dublin hurling manager Tommy Naughton makes just one change in personnel for the visit of Wicklow to Parnell Park for Sunday's Hurling League Division Two clash. Craobh Chiarain's Alan McCrabbe comes into the attack at right-corner forward with Damien Russell losing out. It was also confirmed Philip Brennan of the O'Toole's club will captain the Dublin senior hurlers for the season.
Goalkeeper Liam Donoghue (31) from Clarinbridge will again captain the Galway hurling team.
DUBLIN (SH v Wicklow): G Maguire; P Brennan, K Ryan, T Brady; G Bennett, R Fallon, A de Paor; D Sweeney, P O'Driscoll; S McDonnell, D Curtin, T Moore; A McCrabbe, K Flynn, P Carton.
MONAGHAN (SF v Tyrone): S Duffy, D Morgan, J Coyle, C Flanagan, D Freeman, V Corey, D McArdle, P Finlay, O Lennon, S Gollogly, K Tavey, H McElroy, T Freeman, R Woods, S Smyth.
TYRONE (SF): P McConnell; R McMenamin, C Gormley, E Bradley; D Harte, G Devlin, P Jordan; B Meenan, C Gourley; R Mulgrew, B McGuigan, S Cavanagh; M Penrose, S O'Neill, M Murphy.
