Proposed ban on Tullamore member reduced from 96 to 24 weeks

THE proposed 96 week ban on a Tullamore GAA member for a push on referee Barry Tiernan following the club's first round Leinster club senior football championship tie with Summerhill has been reduced to 24 weeks.

The decision was taken by the Leinster Council's hearings committee following a meeting on Thursday night.

The proposed 48 week ban for another Tullamore member for his behaviour towards a linesman has been reduced to 12 weeks.

The initial ban had been recommended by the Leinster Competitions Control Committee but a number of factors were presented before the Hearings Committee on Thursday night and they felt those issues were extenuating and consequently reduced the proposed ban from 96 weeks to 24 weeks.

The suspension arose following scenes which erupted after the referee had initially awarded an injury time penalty to Tullamore for a pick up but then over turned it after intervention by a linesman. It held up the end of the game for a few minutes and while the decision to overturn the penalty may have been correct as the pick up was in the big area and not the small one, confusion, chaos indecision and uncertainty reigned for a few minutes.

Furious Tullamore supporters and members abused the referee after the game and the footage of him being pushed to the ground was widely circulated since then.