Four-week ban clears way for O'Grady

Countdown to Championship 2005Clare defender Ger O'Grady has been cleared to play in the Munster hurling championship semi-final against either Limerick or Tipperary on Sunday, June 5th.

O'Grady received a straight red card towards the end of Monday's Allianz National Hurling League final in Thurles for a foul on Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh, and was in danger of being reported for a strike with the hurley - which would have meant a 12-week suspension.

Instead O'Grady was only cited for dangerous play by match referee Ger Harrington of Cork, which results in the automatic four-week suspension, and a one-match ban. The match ban, however, carries over until next year's league as it only encompasses the competition in which the red card was shown.

There were five other suspensions announced yesterday by the GAA's Games Administration Committee resulting from the closing rounds of both the National Football and Hurling Leagues.

Louth hurler Alan Mynes was suspended for 12 weeks as a result of an incident in the game with Tyrone on March 26th; Mayo footballer Liam O'Malley gets four weeks having been sent off against Westmeath on April 3rd; Michael O'Hara of Offaly received a four-week suspension for being sent off in the league game on April 10th; and Cavan hurler Kevin Downes got 12 weeks following the league game against Leitrim on April 10th.

Rory Woods of Monaghan was suspended for 12 weeks as a result of an incident in the county's football league game against Derry on April 24th. That already ruled him out of the memorable Division Two final win over Meath last Sunday, and means he will also miss the Ulster championship opener against Derry on June 5th.

Meanwhile, Down are expected to be at full strength for tomorrow's All-Ireland under-21 football final against Galway in Mullingar. Down manager Paddy O'Rourke is expected to name a team unchanged from that which beat Dublin last Saturday.

Forwards Conor Laverty, Jason Browne and James McGovern all played key roles in the one-point win over Dublin, with goalkeeper Declan Alder also going a long way towards holding off the Leinster champions in the closing stages.

Although Down last won the Ulster title in 1984, O'Rourke is no stranger to All-Ireland under-21 finals having played in the 1979 decider against Cork, which Down won. He has identified Micheál Meehan and Seán Armstrong as the two players his team will need to contain if they are to prevent Galway from winning back the title last claimed in 2002.

For Galway manager Peter Ford, there were some injury problems after their semi-final win over Cork. The entire half- back line of Gary Sice, Niall Coyne and Darren Mullahy are all carrying knocks, along with midfielder Barry Cullinane and centre forward Damien Dunleavy.

On the senior county scene, Dessie Dolan now looks set to start for Westmeath in their Leinster championship opener against either Kildare or Wicklow on May 29th.

Dolan had been troubled with a knee injury throughout the league and was contemplating surgery, but he has decided to defer that until after the championship.

The news is not so good for Tipperary's Declan Browne, who is still struggling to be fit for their championship opener against All-Ireland champions Kerry on the same day.

Browne injured the quadriceps at the top of his right leg in a National League match against Louth eight weeks ago, and just when he thought it had healed, it went again at training last week.

The player has been undergoing extensive medical treatment this week to see if he can sort out the problem in time for the championship.