Tyrone may forfeit McKenna Cup title

Tyrone could be stripped of their Dr McKenna Cup title after a meeting of the Ulster Council's competitions committee found that a rule over teamsheets was breached in the final at Healy Park.

Ulster Council PRO Michael Hasson said the Tyrone County Board will now have an opportunity to provide an explanation after the committee found that there was "a breach of rule arising from Tyrone's failure to provide a list of players' as specified in Rule".

The statement added that the penalty for breach of this rule is forfeiture of the game or a fine.

Tyrone have already been in hot water with the Ulster Council over manager Mickey Harte's use of college players, in contravention of competition rules, which stated that the university teams had first call on students.

Four such players were used in Tyrone's group tie win over Derry, and the provincial council acted by deducting the points gained in that game from Tyrone.

They topped their group despite the deduction, and subsequently qualified for the final, in which two of the college players featured, the holders defeating Donegal to win the trophy for a fourth successive season.

But no mention was made of the issue of fielding university players in the statement issued by the provincial body.

On the playing front, Joe McMahon could be back in action for Tyrone's next National Football League game on Sunday week after undergoing surgery for a long-standing groin problem.

McMahon is back in training with the squad, and has a couple of challenge games under his belt as he strives for a return to full fitness.

McMahon underwent surgery on a chronic groin injury in Germany last month. Doctors at the hospital guarantee that a player will be back in training within seven-10 days of undergoing the procedure. McMahon returned to training within that timeframe.

Another Tyrone player, Philip Jordan, has also undergone surgery at the same Munich hospital on a groin injury, and expects to be back in action next month.

Meanwhile, Wicklow are to seek an early decision from the Leinster Council on whether former Carlow midfielder Thomas Walsh is eligible to play for the county.

At issue is whether the former Fenagh club player is resident in Wicklow and the Carlow County Board has raised a query with Leinster Council about the player's residence.