Gormley ban

St Patrick's Athletic will appeal the four-game suspension imposed on their midfielder Eddie Gormley by the National League disciplinary committee. The suspension arises from an incident during the recent clash with Shamrock Rovers when he was seen to throw the ball at the referee.

The league initially gave the impression that they would let the matter lie but officials subsequently asked RTE for a tape of the game as a result of which they brought charges against Gormley for bringing the game into disrepute.

Gormley, who was already due to start a three-match ban next week, will now be out of action after this week's game against Derry until the middle of January.

St Patrick's have expressed "dismay and consternation" over the decision. In a statement last night they said: "The decision is inconsistent and the punishment unfair and we are exploring various avenues open to us to ensure that our players are treated in a manner that is fair and consistent to disciplinary decisions applied to other clubs.

"There is no precedent for video evidence to be used concerning incidents that are not in the referee's report."

Three-match suspensions were handed down to Kelvin Flanagan (Cork), Trevor Vaughan (Kilkenny), Jim Sheridan and Neil Ogden (both Sligo). There was a two-match ban for Michael Scully (Monaghan) and one-game suspensions for Dessie Baker (Shelbourne), Jumbo Brennan (Galway) and Mattie Hare (Sligo).