Although not as harsh as the five year ban imposed on Derrytresk, Dromid Pearses have been taken aback at a three year ban for their role in the now infamous All-Ireland club semi-final brawl last month.
Judging by the raft of suspensions and fines meted out by the Central Hearings Committee (CHC), the Kerry club were deemed to have been the lesser of two evils in the ugly scenes that marred the All-Ireland Junior Club semi-final in Portlaoise last month.
It takes two to tango, however, and as a result, the club have been hit with a ban that will prevent them from playing at provincial or national level for the next three years.
In a more positive development for Dromid, they have had a fine of €2,000 reduced by half, while none of their three players sanctioned for their involvement in the violence on the day – Donal O’Sullivan (three months), Denis O’Sullivan (eight weeks) and Colm O’Connor (four weeks) – will appeal the suspensions handed down to them.
Commenting on the punishment, Dromid chairman Mike Sheehan told the Irish Examiner he thought it was a harsh penalty to have to pay.
“I assume we will be appealing but we have no official recommendation yet,” he said.
“We have to schedule a club meeting. It does seem severe enough.”
Dromid’s ban follows on from the five-year ban for Derrytresk, suspensions for eight of their players and a 48-week ban handed out to a supporter alleged to have struck Kerry star Declan O’Sullivan with a handbag.
With both clubs reportedly considering making appeals to the Central Appeals Committee and even the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA), however, we mightn’t have heard the last of this one yet.
