Council to investigate brawl

The Munster Council will hold an investigation into the sideline brawl which occurred at Cusack Park in Ennis following Tipperary's narrow victory in the Munster under-21 hurling final on Tuesday evening, but it is unlikely they will hear any complaints from either the Tipperary or Clare County Boards.

A number of witnesses described the incident yesterday as having ended almost as quickly as it started, involving only the team substitutes and officials, with none of the players getting involved. The gardai present at Cusack Park did assist in breaking up the aggressive brawl but no arrests were made and gardai didn't receive any further complaints from either side once the situation calmed down.

The free-for-all broke out amongst the substitutes almost immediately after the final whistle was blown by referee Michael Wadding, some four minutes into injury time. Clare had led 1-7 to 0-9 at the break but Tipperary clawed themselves back in front, helped by a Declan Browne goal, and ended up winners 1-18 to 1-15.

While the players on the field were shaking hands, a couple of the Clare and Tipperary substitutes sparked a brawl and were soon joined by their fellow substitutes and officials. Davy Fitzgerald, the Clare senior goalkeeper and coach of the under-21 side, was one of the first to respond while gardai also had to restrain one of the Tipperary substitutes. The scene was under control in less than a minute and both sides apparently shook hands. Sean Kelly, the Chairman of the Munster Council and who also presented the cup to Tipperary, yesterday played down the incident as less harsh than some media reports had indicated. "From what I saw, it did have the potential to be a lot worse," he said. "But the good sense of the players and officials pipped it in the bud before things got out of hand. To their credit, the gardai were in the right place at the right time as well to help pull some people apart.

"Still, the incident was very much undesirable and we have to investigate the circumstances of what started it. It seemed to stem from the sideline and we have to try and find out why. We'll have the referee's report in a couple of days and then we'll take it from there."

The game had attracted a record attendance of 17,049, mostly from Clare, and was played throughout the hour at a consistently furious and highly-competitive pace. The 6.45 p.m. throw-in meant the light was fading badly by the final whistle and the identity of substitutes on the sidelines who provoked the brawl is so far unknown.

But according to the Tipperary county secretary Tommy Barrett, the incident hasn't caused any need for further investigation on their behalf. "The players had shook hands and were swapping jerseys on the field when this thing happened on the sideline. We will have to await the investigation of the Munster Council but at the moment we won't be making any complaints."

The more pressing concern for Clare, however, is over the injury to corner forward Brian McMahon, who suffered a knock to the eye in a clash with Tipperary corner back Tom Costelloe five minutes before the end of the first half. McMahon was immediately taken to hospital in Limerick with a laceration of the eye and underwent an operation there yesterday morning. His condition remains serious.

A minor punch-up and swinging of sticks also followed that incident, with Costelloe receiving the yellow card. The Clare county secretary, Pat Fitzgerald, expressed his disappointment with the way the match reports dealt with the incident, while the extent of McMahon's injury was largely ignored.

"All the focus yesterday was put on the events at the end of the game, but in my view it should have been what happened during it," Fitzgerald said. "Not that I condone what happened afterwards, because no incident in hurling is acceptable. But it's the inconsistency of what is tolerated on the field which worries me most."

A Garda sergeant and six officers were present at Cusack Park as part of the standard safety procedure, and according to a spokesperson for Ennis Garda station, the final scenes were never "excessively violent". One individual had to be restrained for a couple of minutes but there was no further incident from either side once peace was restored. Tipperary will now meet Galway in the first of the All-Ireland semi-finals in Tullamore on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Mark Landers is now back training with the Cork senior hurling panel ahead of their All-Ireland meeting with Kilkenny in 10 days' time. The Cork captain and midfielder suffered a knee cartilage injury when playing with his club Imokilly in the county championship match on August 15th, a week after Cork's semi-final win over Offaly, and had an operation two days later. It was originally believed the injury would need four weeks rest but Landers has made sufficient improvement to get back into training ahead of schedule. "He started back on Monday doing a little bit and was going flat out last night," said county selector Sean O'Leary.

"He's made a very good recovery, a lot better than expected, although he'll probably need a few further tests. But he's on the right road and we're hopeful now that he'll be back to his best in time. A final decision, however, will have to be made after another couple of nights."

There are no reports of any further worries in the Cork panel.