Well-known footballer spared jail for punching player amid melee at Cork GAA game

Éire Óg goalkeeper Chris Kelly had been called up for the Cork senior panel but was suspended for a year after the incident

Eire Og's goalkeeper Chris Kelly, pictured here in 2017, brought €15,000 compensation to court for the injured party. Photo: Eddie O'Hare

A melee at a football match saw one of the players being punched by a spectator – Cork goalkeeper Chris Kelly - at the match and he had to be taken away in an ambulance with a broken nose and dental damage.

Chris Kelly of Kilumney, Ovens, County Cork, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Sam Cronin at Mallow GAA, Carrigoon, Mallow, County Cork, on June 9, 2019. He got a suspended two-year sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.