Miskella faces anxious wait before All-Ireland decider

THERE WILL an anxious wait for Cork defender John Miskella before he learns whether he will be eligible to play in next month’s All-Ireland football final.

The team’s wing back was captured on camera raising his hand and slapping Tyrone’s Brian McGuigan.

Referee John Bannon, behind whose back the infraction occurred, consulted with umpire Peter O’Reilly at the Hill 16 end of Croke Park before issuing Miskella with a yellow card.

The Central Competitions Control Committee met yesterday to consider whether Bannon should be asked for clarification of his decision.

Were that to happen and the Longford referee to agree that the player merited a red card, Miskella would be handed a proposed suspension with the option of availing of a hearing before the Central Hearings Committee, which he would presumably exercise.

Before the CHC Miskella, who has had an excellent season for Cork, would be fighting to avoid a minimum four-week suspension, including the All-Ireland final.

As the CCCC’s deliberations are not publicised there was no statement on the matter but it will come as no surprise if Bannon is asked to review his match-day decision.

Co-incidentally Cork’s other wing back, Noel O’Leary, was in exactly the same situation two years ago except that then referee Brian Crowe declined to revisit the incident in which O’Leary was clearly seen to strike Meath’s Graham Geraghty during that year’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Crowe has not since been appointed to many high-profile matches.

Ironically this will not be a pressure for Bannon, who is due to retire from inter-county refereeing at the end of the season and – as he is not expected to be appointed to this year’s All-Ireland final – has probably officiated at his last match.

Meanwhile RTÉ announced yesterday that Cork’s victory over Tyrone in Sunday’s Croke Park semi-final was the most watched GAA broadcast in this year’s championship. It drew a quarter-hour peak of 694,000 viewers, with an average match audience of 622,000 viewers from throw-in to final whistle.

The match attracted an average share of 55 per cent, meaning that just over half of those watching television yesterday afternoon were tuned in to RTÉ 2’s The Sunday Game Live to see the Munster champions score a famous win against the All-Ireland champions and secure their place in the final as they aim for a first title since 1990.