Galvin Suspended for Season

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Irish Voice Sport

Galvin Suspended for Season

June 18, 2008

Sports Digest by Cathal Dervan

KERRY captain Paul Galvin will miss the rest of the Kingdom’s defense of their All-Ireland crown after the GAA hit him with a six month ban on Tuesday night for smashing referee Paddy Russell’s notebook out of his hand after he was sent off against Clare last Sunday.

Galvin threw the head when he picked up a second yellow card and was dismissed by Russell as Kerry sauntered to an easy 2-14 to 0-5 victory in their first championship outing of the summer as they bid for three Sam Maguire cups on the trot.

The new captain then remonstrated with a linesman and got involved in a disagreement with a teammate who tried to calm him down after the second red card of his inter-county career.

Television stations have since highlighted Galvin’s unacceptable behavior, and he paid the price on Tuesday when he was hit with the ban that rules him out for the rest of the season, although he can appeal against the decision.

The player can request a personal hearing before the Central Hearings Committee and may then decide to appeal his suspension to the Central Appeals Committee.

Before he was suspended Galvin issued an apology for his behavior in an interview with RTE television on Monday night when he said, “Clearly what happened was born out of a huge level of frustration for me. “The exact details of what happened I don’t really want to get into. There is a relevant body that will deal with that. But clearly what happened was wrong, and I was out of order to do what I did.

“And I regret what I did. And I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to the match officials, and to the management of Kerry, and my teammates, and particularly the Kerry supporters, who I feel like I’ve let down.

“I’ve no problem admitting what I did was wrong. This year, personally, has been hugely frustrating. I’m captain of Kerry, and I haven’t kicked a ball since the All-Ireland final last year through injury.

“It was a big day for me, a huge honor for me, and I was really looking forward to it. And I worked so hard. I missed the whole league campaign and had been training on my own. And I just felt it was all taken away. I was hugely frustrated, and my gesture was one of frustration more than anything else.

“I can’t condone what I did. I shouldn’t have done what I’ve done, and for any of the kids that were there it sets a poor example. And as a trainer of teams it does set a bad example to young players.”

Galvin was sent off as Kerry easily overcame Clare in the provincial semifinal when their performance caused more headaches for manager Pat O’Shea.

“We felt we didn’t play well. It was stop-start, there were a lot of stoppages in play and a lot of time wasted with certain things,” said O’Shea.

“There was no fluency in the game, but you have to play every way. Thankfully we were in the lead and thankfully we got off to a good start in the second half and closed out the game.”

Cork Wins

ROOKIE Cork defender Paudie Kissane could miss the rest of the championship after breaking his arm during Sunday’s fortuitous Munster SFC semifinal 2-9 to 0-12 win over Limerick.

Fellow Cork debutant Alan O’Connor is rated as doubtful for the Munster final against Kerry after picking up an ankle ligament injury in the same game.

Cork had to rely on two late, late goals from Daniel Goulding and Graham Canty to beat Limerick, and new manager Conor Counihan found their performance hard to take.

“It was one that we dragged from the depths but I have to give our lads a lot of credit for that,” said Counihan. “We stuck in at three points down and there was always a chance that we would get a goal.

“When we did, it shattered Limerick and broke their hearts. We got the second one but Limerick gave us one hell of a battle and we had predicted that all week. Tension, nerves, I don’t really know what the situation was, but it was our first championship game and we were facing a really fired up team.”

Limerick boss Mickey Ned O’Sullivan was distraught afterwards when he said, “Sport is cruel and it couldn’t be more cruel than that.”

SHC Draw

M.J. FURLONG, Willie Doran and Stephen Nolan could be back from injury to bolster Wexford ahead of Sunday’s Leinster SHC semifinal replay against Dublin at Croke Park.

All three missed the drawn game last Saturday when Dublin blew a great chance to make it to their first Leinster final since the early nineties.

“Hopefully, the eight days between the two games will do the lads a power of good,” the Wexford manager John Meyler said. “They have been getting treatment and hopefully that will bring them on.”

Wexford turned things around against Dublin after a stirring half-time speech from goalie Damien Fitzhenry. “People say Wexford are weak and all this bulls**, but I don’t buy that at all,” added Meyler.

“Those guys inside gave it all their heart. We know the first half was not good enough and that certainly won’t do at inter-county standard.”

Dublin manager Tommy Naughton felt the draw was a fair result. He said: “They had a goal chance at the end there but, overall, a draw was a fair result.

“The backs were under a lot of pressure but what do you expect? It’s the championship. We handled the pressure well in the end because they seemed to have the momentum. I’m happy enough.”

Kilkenny Wins

HENRY Shefflin marked his return from a long term injury with 11 points as All-Ireland champions Kilkenny trounced Offaly in Sunday’s Leinster SHC semifinal by a score of 2-24 to 0-12.

“Henry worked himself to a standstill to make this game, this has been his target the whole time,” revealed Cats boss Brian Cody afterwards.

“He gets back from the game what he puts into it. It’s great to see him out there today, everyone could see the wonderful skills he brings to the game, they’re easy to see, but it’s the work-rate he brings to the team, the leadership, that’s more serious for us.

“Henry is Henry, and his coming back is great for us. He’s shown he’s lost none of his power.”

Offaly manager Joe Dooley refused to criticize his team even after the heavy defeat. “I thought for the first 35 minutes we hurled very well,” he said.

“It was inspiring kind of stuff. But it’s very, very hard to keep Kilkenny down.”

Galway Wins

PADRAIG Joyce is reveling in a new role as Galway center-forward as he proved in Sunday’s 2-14 to 1-13 win over Leitrim when he scored 1-4 from the playmaker’s role.

“Padraic had a brilliant game,” manager Liam Sammon said afterwards. “His ability to read the game, to get into the right positions and to score is unbelievable.

“He’s playing as well as he has in years. He’s enjoying his football and he’s injury-free which is a big help.”

Galway will play Sligo or Mayo in the provincial final with Sammon looking for improvement. He added, “Goals are so important and they win games. We were fortunate when we got two and were disappointed that we gave one away.”

Armagh Wins

ARMAGH were full value for their four point Ulster SFC quarterfinal win (0-17 to 0-13) over Cavan in Breffni Park on Sunday according to their manager Peter McDonnell.

“I am extremely happy,” McDonnell said after his championship debut. “People suggested before this game that Armagh would have their sights set on other things and other days which was an absolute load of nonsense.

“Armagh had never won a championship game against Cavan here and they had lost their last three championship games, so we had no right to take Cavan for granted. Everything was put into this performance which was workmanlike and solid.”

Oisin McConville is likely to be fit for Armagh’s Ulster semifinal against Down having missed Sunday’s encounter through injury.

“Fingers crossed. Oisin McConville is Oisin McConville and he hasn’t been able to train with us for three weeks,” added McDonnell.

Down Wins

DOWN caused a major shock when they knocked Tyrone out of the Ulster SFC in the Newry replay on Saturday evening by a score of 1-19 to 0-21, but winning boss Ross Carr believes the Red Hand side will come good again this summer.

“I’m delighted for the Down supporters because in the McKenna Cup this year and in the National League we had fantastic support,” said Carr.

“However, I would urge a bit of caution because I was at Clones in 2003 when Monaghan beat Armagh, and Down beat Monaghan the next day out and Armagh still contested the All-Ireland final.”

GAA Shorts

YOUNG midfielder Wayne McNamara faces a race against time to be fit for Limerick’s Munster SHC semifinal against Clare on Sunday after damaging shoulder ligaments in training. Brian Begley is definitely out of the game while Brian Geary is injured . . .

THE Cork county board has been hit with a ?1,300 fine for a breach of match regulations during the Munster SHC clash between Cork and Tipperary at

Pairc Úi Chaoimh when overcrowding at one end of the ground almost led to chaos . . .

DERRY goalkeeper John Deighan will miss Saturday’s Ulster SFC semifinal against Fermanagh after picking up an ankle injury in a club game. Barry Gillis will replace Deighan while Sean Marty Lockhart is also a doubt for Derry . . .

WICKLOW midfielder Thomas Walsh has dismissed reports that he is to play in America for the summer and shun the county’s defense of the Tommy Murphy Cup.

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