Bonner likely to step down

Donegal football manager Declan Bonner has reiterated the likelihood of his stepping down from the post this week. He has also criticised the decision of the Games Administration Committee to call him and a Donegal player to tomorrow night's meeting which he will not be attending.

Since the controversial replay defeat by Armagh two weekends ago, there has been speculation that Bonner would not exercise his option to renew his appointment for a third year.

"I've nothing to say until the weekend when I'm meeting county officers. At this stage I will probably hand in my cards. Although I've had calls asking if I'd go on for another year, I'll probably opt out. But there'll be no announcement until I've given my decision to the county officers."

The Donegal-Armagh match was a source of controversy two weeks ago when the GAC overruled the decision of referee Michael Curley to send off two players, Armagh's Oisin McConville and Martin Coll of Donegal.

McConville was deemed on the basis of video evidence not to have struck Donegal's Noel McGinley - an offence for which he was given a red card. At the weekend The Sun- day World published pictures from a video purporting to show that McConville did indeed strike McGinley who has since been called before the GAC to explain himself.

Bonner says that he is not seeking to take any further issue with the result of the match.

"Not really. I didn't actually see the video but people who have maintain that the decision to send McConville off was right. The GAC exonerated both players but that was no benefit to us. Now myself and Noel McGinley have been called to the GAC on Wednesday.

"I don't know why Noel has been called but I've to answer for three pitch incursions: one when Tony Blake, our goalkeeper, was coming off with injury; secondly after Noel McCready went down; and thirdly when Martin Coll was sent off and I had to change the team around."

The Donegal manager says he will not be available to the GAC tomorrow evening and he is critical of the situation and the broader issue of the conduct of matches, pointing out the number of embarrassing incidents the GAA has had to cope with this season.

"I won't be attending the meeting. The whole thing is getting crazier by the minute. Every week there's bad refereeing and matches ending in controversy. I know the ref's job is hard but it's turning supporters away.

"Attendances for football are going down. Donegal used to be really well-supported. I can remember playing a league match in Cork in the early 1990s and 5,000 came down on the train to see it. A couple of weeks ago, our replay against Armagh in Clones drew only 2,500 from the county.

"We're in big competition with Sky Sports for nine months of the year and now's the ideal opportunity to start showing our own games. It's very hard to promote the games to young lads when their team gets one game in a year.

Meanwhile, Kerry's fears were realised yesterday with confirmation that Noel Kennelly will miss about two months of the championship because of the injury sustained playing for his club Feale Rangers. The Kerry forward fell awkwardly after contesting a high ball in the county championship match with Austin Stacks in Listowel.

"Noel has a broken bone in his ankle," according to county secretary Tony O'Keeffe. "We don't know the precise ins and outs of his actual situation but he is hospital and is out of the Munster final.

"On average this sort of injury can take around six weeks at least but that's just for it to heal. Then you've all the training he will miss. Last year William Kirby hurt his knee at the end of May and although that was supposed to be alright after a few weeks, it just didn't happen for him."

Kennelly, who played a prominent role in IT Tralee's Sigerson Cup triumph in Belfast last March and is a son of 1979 All-Ireland captain Tim, had had a good match in the Munster semi-final against Clare in Killarney last Sunday week.

"He was playing quite well," said O'Keeffe, "but any fella is a loss at this time of the year when he's done all the heavy training and you're working towards a pattern of play."

Finally there has been no confirmation from Fermanagh about the plans of manager Pat King after the county's heavy defeat by Tyrone on Sunday. After the match King said that two of the management team had decided to step down but he declined to elaborate on their identities.

County secretary Paddy Donnelly said yesterday that the county board had not been informed about the individual intentions of the team's selectors.