Attack trauma forces Dundalk IT to miss tie

GAELIC GAMES/O'Byrne Cup news:Dundalk Institute of Technology have been forced to withdraw from Sunday's O'Byrne Cup football fixture against Wexford as a result of a violent attack on five players two weeks before Christmas. .

Team manager and Dundalk IT sports officer Michael Heeney explained yesterday how the break-in at the house of the five players had left physical and mental scars and it was in the best interest of all involved not to fulfil the fixture

The five students were tied up during the break-in. Two of them sustained serious injuries and were detained in hospital for two nights. The car of one of the five was also stolen from outside the house.

"As a third-level college we're closed anyway until January 20th," said Heeney. "We had originally intended doing some training over the Christmas period, but then that was cancelled after the incident before Christmas, which was front-page news in the Dundalk newspapers.

"But I'd been talking to the players involved over the past number of days and they're just not ready to return just yet, which is totally understandable. To be honest, they were quite nervous about coming back, and there was a real fear element there, with just a lot of uncertainty for those involved. The bottom line is these players have been seriously affected by the thing.

"And we're talking about a normal student house, right next to the campus, and most of these students are in the same course and obviously very close. Almost all the houses around there are occupied by students so it has been a very serious thing and shock for the whole college."

Dundalk IT have been competing in the O'Byrne Cup in recent years, and were re-drawn against Wexford this year after their original opponents, Kilkenny, also pulled out because of their inability to field a team.

Heeney is still hopeful the players can put the incident behind them and be back playing football in the coming weeks.

"It's not just about the break-in on the night," he added. "It's how they've been affected since. It takes a good while for someone to get over something like this. They will make a full recovery but these are only young lads, aged 19 or 20, and we had to be realistic about what was involved here.

"I've been involved in the game for many years and a former county manager myself and I can understand how something like this would affect the players, and how we need to help them put it behind them. So I felt it was in everyone's best interest here not to continue for the time being. It was totally my decision but I feel it is the right one.

"We'll just concentrate all our efforts now on the Sigerson Cup, and regroup for that. Our first-round game against Cork IT is at home and hopefully we can get back in good shape for that one."

Sunday's game, which was set for the St Mary's club in Rosslare, was also meant to mark Wexford's first outing of the year, but they will now await the winners of tomorrow's Wicklow-Carlow game and go into the action in round two, which is set for Sunday week.

It also means Matty Forde's return to the Wexford colours after a three-month suspension must also wait another week.

Despite Dundalk IT's withdrawal the O'Byrne Cup promises plenty of good competition in the weeks ahead - with Dublin entering the fray next Tuesday night with a floodlit game against DCU in Ringsend.

One manager not convinced about the usefulness of the competition, however, is Kildare manager John Crofton, who, speaking ahead of his team's clash with Laois in Portarlington on Sunday, reckoned the whole thing should be scrapped.

"The thing about it is we don't even remember who we played last year," said the former defensive star. "Right now, our training is far more important to us, especially as the league runs into the championship and don't have much of a break to do any further serious work. So this is our pre-season time when the ground work needs to be put in."