Geraghty appeal not expected

News round-up: The Meath County Board are not expecting any appeal from Graham Geraghty against the 48-week suspension handed down at their county board meeting on Monday night

Neither Geraghty nor any representative of his club Seneschalstown attended the disciplinary committee meeting last week, which recommended the lengthy ban for ratification at county board level.

According to a spokesperson for the county board, any appeal at this stage is highly unlikely, simply because Geraghty "wouldn't have a leg to stand on". His absence from the disciplinary committee last week was already an indication that the former All Star and Meath football captain had accepted his fate.

The year-long absence from football has now cast a major doubt over Geraghty's future with the county, although so far the player has declined to comment on the full implications of his enforced lay-off.

There were, however, several witnesses to the incident, which saw Geraghty initially sent off on two yellow cards, and subsequently reported by Dunshaughlin referee Jim Smith for alleged physical interference and verbal abuse.

It occurred at the end of the Seneschalstown-Ballivor senior football championship match at Dunsany on August 5th, a game Seneschalstown lost - and were eliminated from the championship.

Although the exact contents of Smith's report were not made public at the county board meeting, it is reported Geraghty had objected to several of his decisions and is alleged to have followed Smith off the field at the end, thus breaching rule 138 (interference by a player or official with a referee umpire linesman or opposing team official) and earning himself the 48-week ban.