Diarmuid Connolly Appeal

King Cantona

As far as I know, this decision is due today. Thought I´d create a separate thread to prevent the Kerry v Dublin thread turning into a bloodbath and more people getting banned

Personally, I agree with Pat Gilroy and I think they will overturn his suspension today. He doesn´t deserve to miss a game, let alone an AI final for his actions imho. I know the Kerry lads will have a different opinion based on Galvin´s previous suspensions, but I think if you´re honest (think if it was one of your own men) you´d be disappointed if they we´re banned for what was effectively handbags coupled with some embarrasing play acting.

The link for Gilroy´s comments btw:

http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2011/09/03/Gilroy-confident-about-Connolly/gnid-107666/

Het-Field

I hope that Connolly is granted dispensation.

Having viewed the incident several times, I have become more entrenched. First, he was the victim of great provocation from a man who had nothing to do with the incident which led to the free being awarded. Second, the same man then fell to the ground, clutching his face, in a manner which feigned a punch to the face. Third, Connolly was then in reciept of a two handed, closed fist push to the face in the aftermath of Boyle's falling to the ground.

Yes, Connolly did raise his hands, and yes the ref did send him off, but whether that merits a suspension in the context of the incident, I dont think so!

Justice For Connolly!

ANXIOUS

I cant see the red card not being over turned. It'd be a disgrace if he missed the final.

homerjay2005

can somebody post a link to the incident?

celticbest

The Red card has to be overturned or it will be a victory for Play acting, something which should not be allowed to take hold in our game.

JimsAlterEgo

as a matter of interest on what grounds are they appealing? Can't see how it can be overturned.

celticbest

homerjay2005 wrote: »

can somebody post a link to the incident?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRaI1PDU2xw

Het-Field

celticbest wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRaI1PDU2xw

I would suggest to all that they should dig around youtube for a link to the entire game. If you can find the 56thMin or so, you can witness the entire event, and the circumstances leading up to it.

padraig_f

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRaI1PDU2xw

I didn't think he should've been sent off but now that he has got a red card I won't be surprised if the ban is upheld. There's a definite striking action (however tame), I'm not sure the GAA want to go down the road of overturning referee's decisions on finer points like that. "He hit him, but it wasn't that hard". If you overturn that, it becomes quite murky where you draw the line.

Trampas

It was handbags stuff.

if a players gets a red card for that everytime then no game would finish 15 a side

King Cantona

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

as a matter of interest on what grounds are they appealing? Can't see how it can be overturned.

Looks like the linesman made the call. Through playacting, he may have thought that Connolly floored a player with a punch to the face. It was a push to the chest / neck. Nothing sinister, just handbags.

Granted, the appeals committee can stick to the book on this one and uphold the red card, but it would be very harsh and you could pick out hundreds of other instances where similar actions go unpunished. It´s the type of thing you see in GAA matches throughout the country every weekend. Consistency is key.

JimsAlterEgo

King Cantona wrote: »

Looks like the linesman made the call. Through playacting, he may have thought that Connolly floored a player with a punch to the face. It was a push to the chest / neck. Nothing sinister, just handbags.

Granted, the appeals committee can stick to the book on this one and uphold the red card, but it would be very harsh and you could pick out hundreds of other instances where similar actions go unpunished. It´s the type of thing you see in GAA matches throughout the country every weekend. Consistency is key.

They run the risk of mass appeals though if it is overturned, there was a striking offence so its not as if he got it wrong.
Who decides? Is the ref asked to decide if he saw it himself would he have given a red?

Hammer Archer

Brian Farrell's red earlier in the season was much less serious than this and his appeal was thrown out. If the red is rescinded serious questions would need to be asked about the GAA's appeal system. Because it's an All Ireland final he'll miss shouldn't have a bearing on his case.

King Cantona

Vincent Hogan wrote a nice piece on it:

To understand where Diarmuid Connolly is now, it might help if you've, occasionally, tripped over the odd Commandment. Nothing especially grave or recidivist, you understand. It's just, if you're pure as the driven snow, you probably see justice as some kind of cold book of statutes. Iron law, in other words. Unmoving. Incorruptible.
Therefore, you cannot possibly empathise with the Dublin footballer. He's of another world.
If, on the other hand, you've the odd pockmark to your story, maybe you take a more nuanced view of his predicament. Because ever since he was a kid in Marino, every day of Connolly's life has probably felt like a step closer to the epoch looming next Sunday week.
And, now that he's on the doorstep, it looks like he might be turned away.
Tonight, a meeting of the GAA's Central Hearings Committee will consider his appeal against the four-week suspension received for an incident with Donegal's Marty Boyle on August 28. If they reject him, Connolly will still have the option of two further layers of appeal.
But this warped time of not knowing must be excruciating for him and his family.
If you're not familiar with Connolly's sin, go 'YouTube' it. From a game that was a quarrelling, bickering mess -- little gusts of lawlessness blowing through from start to finish -- he was identified as committing the most serious crime of all. Which was?
Pushing away a player who had just barrelled into him unprovoked.
Taking the letter of the law, Connolly "raised his hands" and, therefore, had to go. But does it reflect an unorthodox view of justice to ask about the spirit? He clearly wasn't the aggressor and Boyle's reaction of crumpling to the floor like a drunk suddenly at odds with gravity, helped neither the referee, linesman nor -- by extension -- Connolly.
In a game of a thousand crimes, the single jail sentence arrived for late payment of a bill.
Now it seems inconceivable that anyone who has ever played even a sedentary game of five-a-side could look at the footage and see something to justify depriving a man his place in an All-Ireland final.
But GAA history can be an absurd mix of ironies and travesties. Tipperary hurler Brian O'Meara was one of the most principled and gentlemanly of county players, yet missed the 2001 hurling decider because of a little rutting exchange with Wexford's Liam Dunne in the semi-final that would barely have raised an eyebrow between hassled mothers at a supermarket checkout.
O'Meara, who had been on the Tipp team beaten by Clare in '97, never played in another All-Ireland final. He was wronged.
We covet the primal element of Gaelic games, the sense of physical abandon with which players submit themselves to the task of upholding a county's honour. That Tipp team of '01 would have had battles with Clare in Munster that made Gallipoli look a picnic.
And, routinely, we mythologise old, unscrupulous soldiers who took liberties with the law.
Connolly himself would have grown up to stories of a supposedly more elegant era when men were men and Dublin teams might send out stony welcoming parties for flying Kerry captains. Actually, seen as we're in the mood for YouTube, go key in 'Mickey Ned O'Sullivan knockout '75'. Then watch between your fingers.
Compared to that time, the scrutiny of players today is borderline neurotic. Cameras pick up everything.
Yet, rewind to the third minute of that Dublin versus Donegal game last Sunday week and watch the physical and verbal baiting of Connolly and Alan Brogan as a Dublin attack breaks down. Returning to their positions, every second step they take is interrupted by a heavy shoulder charge.
It isn't covert and it isn't sly and, frankly, it isn't even illegal. But it captures the tone of engagement. If you look closely, Connolly is actually smiling as it happens. He understands this to be part of the challenge. The weak thing is to react.
Which, one hour later, is essentially what he did.
So, call him weak. Call him impetuous, headstrong, silly. And, maybe, Dublin being reduced to 14 men as that semi-final see-sawed on a pendulum of high-energy panic was fitting punishment for his single second eruption. If his team had been beaten, I doubt Pat Gilroy would have been all hugs and paternal sighs in the dressing-room.
But, if players are to have any higher status than scratch cards in our minds, can it be reasonable that Connolly misses an All-Ireland final too? Bearing in mind he was eight the last time Dublin played on a September Sunday, this might be his only shot.
And it hangs by a thread.
I am reminded of a story Donal Og Cusack tells of Cork's Munster Championship game with Tipp in '09. It was thunderous stuff, quarters neither asked nor given in Semple Stadium.
Tipp's Micheal Webster was engaged in what Cusack would call a "Punch and Judy" battle with Cork's full-back, Eoin Cadogan. Late in the game, Webster's hurley fell from his hand in the Cork square and, almost without thinking, Cusack picked it up and, stamping his foot down, broke the stick in two.
In his autobiography, 'Come What May', the Cork goalkeeper admits that he wasn't proud of it, but explains the act as something that happens "in a combat situation".
Maybe two hours later, he stood in The Castle pub downtown, sharing "a joke and a chat" with Webster's brother. "That's the GAA," writes Cusack. A communion of minds.
Was Cusack guilty of criminal damage? Technical application can, sometimes, be an ass.
If you see no case for Diarmuid Connolly's redemption now, go soap the stigmata in your hands and be thankful. You've led a remarkable life.

King Cantona

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

They run the risk of mass appeals though if it is overturned, there was a striking offence so its not as if he got it wrong.
Who decides? Is the ref asked to decide if he saw it himself would he have given a red?

Not sure of the process, seemed to have changed a couple of times in the past year. Usually, by now the referees report is available and I think a lot depends on that.

I think he should be let off, but tbh I can´t see it happening.

Boyle should also be banned for play acting, shameful stuff that I would hate to see creep into GAA.

jimmycrackcorm

Trampas wrote: »

It was handbags stuff.

if a players gets a red card for that everytime then no game would finish 15 a side

No, after the first send-off the other players will think twice about their actions.

ProudDUB

Sincerely hope the red card is over turned. It was not merited. The Donegal player clearly took a dive. Don't think the AI being DC's next game is really relevant. I would also love to see some disciplinary action being put in place to punish the players who dive and play act to get another player sent off. Perhaps if players knew that they may face consequences for that kind of carry on, they would do it less.

antoobrien

Trampas wrote: »

It was handbags stuff.

if a players gets a red card for that everytime then no game would finish 15 a side

How about we stop blaming refs for following the rules and take a look at the stupid asses who do idiotic crap like this forcing their hands.

He struck twice with a closed fist, once clearly landing on the face.

He should get 4 weeks and deserves it (if not for the force of the strike for terminal stupidity).

lucylu

He struck the Donegal player 3 times
1 to the face (left hand)
2 the neck (left hand)
3 as the player went down to the head (right hand)

He got a straight red - he should pay the penalty

Because it is an All -Ireland final it should not make any difference. Rules are rules

Het-Field

lucylu wrote: »

He struck the Donegal player 3 times
1 to the face (left hand)
2 the neck (left hand)
3 as the player went down to the head (right hand)

He got a straight red - he should pay the penalty

Because it is an All -Ireland final it should not make any difference. Rules are rules

Interestingly, on first view, the commentators seemed totally stunned at the red-card.

The "strikes" came after severe provocation from Boyle. Watch the entire video you will see that. Provocation is and has been a mitigating factor.

The "third strike" is nothing

tayto lover

Hope it succeeds as it was nothing really. A lad struck the ref with a hurl yesterday and had no action taken.

King Cantona

The more I look at it, the more I think that he´s no chance of getting the red overturned.

murf313

Unfortunately it looks to me like the lad has no chance. I know he was provoked but at the end of the day he should of been the bigger man. He struck the player 3 times. Rules are rules. I think id be more pissed off if the ban was overturned.:eek:

Pudzianowski

Het-Field wrote: »

Interestingly, on first view, the commentators seemed totally stunned at the red-card.

I wouldn't read too much into things that would stun Kevin mcStay.

It's a soft sending off, but he had to go, whether the punches were forceful or accurate is irrelevant.

Het-Field

Pudzianowski wrote: »

I wouldn't read too much into things that would stun Kevin mcStay.

It's a soft sending off, but he had to go, whether the punches were forceful or accurate is irrelevant.

That is very true! Was it not McStay who uttered the immortal "oh no, oh no, oh no" line??

InigoMontoya

Pudzianowski wrote: »

It's a soft sending off, but he had to go, whether the punches were forceful or accurate is irrelevant.

Have to agree with this. Silly actions.

King Cantona wrote: »

Boyle should also be banned for play acting, shameful stuff that I would hate to see creep into GAA.

Also agree with this. Except that it's already crept in to a fair extent.

Temp Barry

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Brian Farrell's red earlier in the season was much less serious than this and his appeal was thrown out. If the red is rescinded serious questions would need to be asked about the GAA's appeal system. Because it's an All Ireland final he'll miss shouldn't have a bearing on his case.

I don't think Farrell's was much less serious, I think it was very similar. I was astonished Farrell didnt get off, but the fact that he didnt bodes badly for Connolly.

Michael Murphy got off his red card rescinded during the year - but I dont know what he did?

Anyway who talks about Connolly striking a player 3 times is either blind or on a wind up. Or maybe is a big fan of soccer or WWE, when phantom strikes can cause serious injury!

Connolly caught Boyle twice. Firstly on the neck, secondly on the shoulder. It was a push with a closed fist, so it looked worse that it was on replay. Boyle had caught Connolly first and afterwards the Donegal midfielder caught Connolly with an identical push with the closed fist. Certainly if Boyle had not cheated and had not feigned injury, Connolly would not have got a red card. 3 yellow cards should have been the punishment for the 3 players.

But there's no way the GAA will overturn the decision IMO. The only hope is on a technicality. Deegan just waved the red card at Connolly and pointed his finger to show he was sent off. He did not, as required by the rules, take his name first.

Might be a slim chance, but the technicality is the best chance Connolly has.

JimsAlterEgo

does anyone know what offence he was cited for and listed in the refs report?

JimsAlterEgo

Temp Barry wrote: »

I don't think Farrell's was much less serious, I think it was very similar. I was astonished Farrell didnt get off, but the fact that he didnt bodes badly for Connolly.

Michael Murphy got off his red card rescinded during the year - but I dont know what he did?

Anyway who talks about Connolly striking a player 3 times is either blind or on a wind up. Or maybe is a big fan of soccer or WWE, when phantom strikes can cause serious injury!

Connolly caught Boyle twice. Firstly on the neck, secondly on the shoulder. It was a push with a closed fist, so it looked worse that it was on replay. Boyle had caught Connolly first and afterwards the Donegal midfielder caught Connolly with an identical push with the closed fist. Certainly if Boyle had not cheated and had not feigned injury, Connolly would not have got a red card. 3 yellow cards should have been the punishment for the 3 players.

But there's no way the GAA will overturn the decision IMO. The only hope is on a technicality. Deegan just waved the red card at Connolly and pointed his finger to show he was sent off. He did not, as required by the rules, take his name first.

Might be a slim chance, but the technicality is the best chance Connolly has.

I stand correced but I think Murphy got off on a technicality.

Temp Barry

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

does anyone know what offence he was cited for and listed in the refs report?

No, but it surely can only be "striking"

ANXIOUS

lucylu wrote: »

He struck the Donegal player 3 times
1 to the face (left hand)
2 the neck (left hand)
3 as the player went down to the head (right hand)

He got a straight red - he should pay the penalty

Because it is an All -Ireland final it should not make any difference. Rules are rules

So should the two donegal players who charged at connolly and struck him, be retrospectively banned? Should they go through the whole game and ban all the players for these "strikes"?

careca

The first thing everyone should do is forget about Boyle and his provacation. It has absolutely nothing to do with Connolly's case and won't be used as a defence. If you react then you're guilty, end off.

I actually believe he just meant to push Boyle away but by closing his fists to do so he got himself in trouble. I think he will get the ban reduced to 2 weeks, allowing him to play.

Temp Barry mentioned about the name not being taken first. I heard this two on the morning after the match and although I am not too sure of the rules to confirm or deny it, I believe it will be an absolute farce if this is the reason given for rescinding the card.

As a Kerryman I have to say, if it was Tomas or Galvin there would be no discussion on whether or not the card was warranted or had a chance of being rescinded, but thats for another day And one final point, the CCC can be unbelievably stubborn so nothing would be shock me on their decision.

katowjo

micheal murphy got sent off against cavan this year for very little and got it rescinded back in the 1st round of Ulster!

I hope Connolly plays in the final!

Pudzianowski

careca wrote: »

Temp Barry mentioned about the name not being taken first. I heard this two on the morning after the match and although I am not too sure of the rules to confirm or deny it, I believe it will be an absolute farce if this is the reason given for rescinding the card.

Absolutely agree. To start this kind of rubbish just serves to make a referees job even more difficult. IMO this kind of stuff is no better than the play acting Boyle carried on with, it's just doing it at committee level and not on the field.

Brain Stroking

katowjo wrote: »

micheal murphy got sent off against cavan this year for very little and got it rescinded back in the 1st round of Ulster!

I hope Connolly plays in the final!

You think the two incidents are comparable?!

Tristram

When will the decision be announced?

lucylu

ANXIOUS wrote: »

So should the two donegal players who charged at connolly and struck him, be retrospectively banned? Should they go through the whole game and ban all the players for these "strikes"?

He made contact to the Donegal players head ...end of story.

He is "man" enough to play he should be "man" enough to pay for his crimes.

Het-Field

lucylu wrote: »

He made contact to the Donegal players head ...end of story.

He is "man" enough to play he should be "man" enough to pay for his crimes.

While I am not trying to divert from the issue, I am interested to know what you believe should be done with Marty Boyle, and the other player who pushed Connolly in the face with two closed fists?

careca

Tristram wrote: »

When will the decision be announced?

Meeting tonight so prob around midnight. If he gets off thats it, if he doesn't there is prob another ave or two open to him but it gets v messy then.

careca

Het-Field wrote: »

While I am not trying to divert from the issue, I am interested to know what you believe should be done with Marty Boyle, and the other player who pushed Connolly in the face with two closed fists?

THey should get a month ban too, but because they won't be playing inter county and because the new rule states it shouldn't affect their club, they will be free to play in any club games. Basically its a waste of time doing anything because it won't affect them.

PARKHEAD67

Handbags at dawn is all it was.Surely they wont deprive him an AI Final place.

King Cantona

Renewed hope for Connolly

05 September 2011

Suspended Dublin star Diarmuid Connolly could yet be available to play in Sunday week's All-Ireland football final.

While Dublin remain hopeful of a successful outcome for the St. Vincent's clubman when he appears before the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) tonight, it's understood there is another avenue of appeal open to them if that fails.

The Irish Examiner understands that Laois referee Maurice Deegan didn't follow proper procedure when issuing Connolly with the straight red card before taking his name after his involvement in an incident with Donegal's Marty Boyle in last month's All-Ireland semi-final.

According to playing rule 1.2 (x) (c) under duties of the referee, the match official is expected "to order off a player who commits an ordering off foul/infraction by taking his name (if not already taken) and showing him a red card".

Should the Dublin county board fail to have Connolly's ban overturned in Croke Park tonight, they are likely to take their case to the Central Appeals Committee.

details of the technicality. hope it doesn't go down to this.

DoctaDee

careca wrote: »

Meeting tonight so prob around midnight. If he gets off thats it, if he doesn't there is prob another ave or two open to him but it gets v messy then.

If the ban is upheld, which more than likely it will, and the player wants to fight it ,then it heads to CAC *sniggerz* .. Central Appeals Comm. If there's still no joy, then yer off to the DRA (Disputes Resolution Authority), full of Judges, barristers etc. and expilcitly independent of the previous process which are GAA organisied committees. DRA decisons are final

lucylu

How come this technicality ****e doesn't rear its head in Soccer or Rugby??

The Grab All Association is a farce ..
I stopped going to all County Championship games in 2006 as too many high profile players were getting off on Technicalities and getting solicitors involved when they were sent off when they were caught on camera . I wrote to the GAA to tell them what I thought of the CCC .. That year GAA were complete hyprocrites as the International Series was played in OZ 6 months previous and the Gooch Cooper got broke up. The GAA said enough was enough and they were not going to stand for voilence and pulled out of the International Rules.. 6 months later they were seen to let all players off on Technicalites after the Battle of Omagh
I got a blurp response. looks like 6 years the GAA hasn't moved on..

blackwhite

Het-Field wrote: »

The "strikes" came after severe provocation from Boyle. Watch the entire video you will see that. Provocation is and has been a mitigating factor.

Could you point out where exactly in the rules of the GAA is provocation mentioned as a "mitigating factor"?

The rules are perfectly clear on this, striking with a closed fist to the head or body is a red card offence, regardless of how much force was used, or what went on beforehand.

Temp Barry

King Cantona wrote: »

details of the technicality. hope it doesn't go down to this.

I hope it does (though don't think it'll work)

I dont like the use of a silly technicality, but if it corrected an injustice, then I'm all for it.

If Boyle hadnt dived like a cheat, Connolly would not have been sent off (proved by the fact Connolly didnt dive when he was hit and no card at all was issued). Therefore, that's an injustice. And if they find some way to correct the injustice, then its all good.

(BTW, a reduction of the ban to 2 weeks would be useless and there are minimum 1 match bans for red cards that are upheld).

Ash.J.Williams

blackwhite wrote: »

Could you point out where exactly in the rules of the GAA is provocation mentioned as a "mitigating factor"?

The rules are perfectly clear on this, striking with a closed fist to the head or body is a red card offence, regardless of how much force was used, or what went on beforehand.

yeah provocation means nothing, if anything retaliation is seen as a more serious offence.

lucylu

Temp Barry wrote: »

I hope it does (though don't think it'll work)

I dont like the use of a silly technicality, but if it corrected an injustice, then I'm all for it.

If Boyle hadnt dived like a cheat, Connolly would not have been sent off (proved by the fact Connolly didnt dive when he was hit and no card at all was issued). Therefore, that's an injustice. And if they find some way to correct the injustice, then its all good.

(BTW, a reduction of the ban to 2 weeks would be useless and there are minimum 1 match bans for red cards that are upheld).

If Connolly didn't hit him 3 times he would not have been sent off..

Name one manager who does not tell his team if your hit go down and stay down?

Hammer Archer

careca wrote: »

I actually believe he just meant to push Boyle away but by closing his fists to do so he got himself in trouble. I think he will get the ban reduced to 2 weeks, allowing him to play.

A straight red is a minimum of 4 weeks. And a minimum of one game must be served for every suspension as far as i know. So either the red is upheld and he's out, or he gets it rescinded.
Agree with the rest. Just because Boyle gave Connolly a few shoulders (which you regularly see players do when a sub comes on for example) doesn't give him the right to raise his hands.
It'll be ridiculous though if he gets off on a technicality. Reminds me of the brawl in Omagh a few years ago when all out war broke loose on the pitch and in the stands yet no player received a suspension because of a technicality.

Temp Barry

lucylu wrote: »

If Connolly didn't hit him 3 times he would not have been sent off..

Name one manager who does not tell his team if your hit go down and stay down?

I think you watch too much soccer Lucy.

GAA players are going down to get frees more than they used to. But feigning injury to get an opponent sent off is thankfully still very very rare. And there's no way a man like Jim McGuinness would condone such action. I doubt very much there's even one GAA intercounty manager who has told his players to feign injury to get the ref to issue red cards.

listermint

lucylu wrote: »

If Connolly didn't hit him 3 times he would not have been sent off..

Name one manager who does not tell his team if your hit go down and stay down?

Gilroy, Thats why Connelly didnt got down.


Go on...........