Leinster Council officials are waiting to adjudicate on the report of referee Barry Tiernan before any disciplinary action will be undertaken in relation to the incident after the final whistle of Sunday’s Leinster club SFC clash between Tullamore and Summerhill.
A Tullamore footballer, who was not playing in the game, entered the field after the final whistle and approached Tiernan, pushed him from behind and sent the Dublin referee tumbling to the ground.
Video footage of the incident has been widely circulated online and the perpetrator is now facing a two-year ban. The minimum punishment for assaulting a match official was increased from 48 weeks to 96 weeks at GAA Congress last February.
However, the Leinster Competitions Control Committee can only proceed with the disciplinary process when they examine the referee’s report and it had not been received approaching the close of business at 5pm on Monday. Given the seriousness of the matter, it is understandable Tiernan wants to be comprehensive with his version of events. There may also be extenuating circumstances to be considered.
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Summerhill won Sunday’s contest 1-9 to 1-7 but the game ended in controversy. In the closing seconds, Tiernan awarded Tullamore a close-range free before changing his decision and upgrading the call to a penalty after consulting with his umpires.
However, before Paul McConway could take the spot-kick, Tiernan received further advice from one of his linesmen and reversed his decision again, returning to his initial call of awarding the Offaly champions a free.
With Tullamore failing to score the goal they needed at that stage, there was frustration among the home side at the final whistle over how that late incident had been handled.
Offaly chairman Michael Duignan was in attendance at the game and speaking on RTÉ Radio One afterwards, he expressed his disgust at what happened to the match official.
“I saw it myself and I can’t deny it, a disgraceful incident,” said Duignan.
“There was a bit of controversy at the end where the referee awarded a penalty and then it was overruled and obviously the players were frustrated and they were remonstrating.
“But there was no danger, the players were well away from the ref coming off the field. The Tullamore team are a very sporting team, just disappointed, which you would be.
“But somebody came in from the terrace then and pushed the referee from behind so it was terrible. It’s a very, very tough job and I would have had my arguments over the years with refs but you wouldn’t dream about laying a finger on a referee.”
Meanwhile, Tipperary’s search for a new senior intercounty football manager continues after Peter Keane withdrew his interest in succeeding David Power at the helm.
