Garda appeal set for tonight

The garda College appeal against expulsion from the Sigerson Cup will probably be heard this evening by the GAA's Central Appeals Committee (CAC). Although not confirmed, the appeal is expected to be lodged by today's deadline.

"We haven't filed it yet," the Templemore club's chair Pat McCabe told The Irish Times yesterday evening, "because there's one or two final things to consider to clarify our situation but basically we don't believe that the rule was applied correctly."

The expulsion was based on the deemed ineligibility of the Garda College's Graham Dillon who played in the victory over Carlow IT a fortnight ago after which Carlow lodged an objection.

"Time is very tight," said McCabe, "and we're conscious of not wanting to delay the whole competition any longer."

Carlow IT's quarter-final against Cork IT has been held over pending the Garda appeal. Given that next Tuesday is the earliest likely date for the match to go ahead, the winners will be at a disadvantage compared to the other semi-finalists, who negotiated their progress this week, as they will be faced with three matches in five days to win the Sigerson.

"It's not at all satisfactory from the point of view of player welfare," according to Cork IT's games promotion officer Keith Ricken. "It's a source of annoyance to us that we only heard last week's match was off the day before. We're not aggrieved with anyone because these things happen and it's just unlucky for us."

CAC meetings don't have to be in Dublin and have been held in Portlaoise, including for one of last year's high-profile hearings, the suspensions arising from the Cork-Clare Munster championship match.

Should the appeal fail it would be open to the Garda College to take the case to the Disputes Resolution Authority, which is also capable of meeting at short notice.