Westmeath face hurling exile over use of extra sub

WESTMEATH hurlers could face expulsion from the Guinness All-Ireland SHC for using six substitutes in their facile win over Kildare in the Leinster championship at the weekend.

The Leinster Council GAC will meet on Thursday evening to decide their fate.

The Westmeath County Board held an emergency meeting last night to discuss the incident.

The confusion arose over the use of blood substitutions, although officials are adamant that the fourth official okayed the fateful substitution of Christy Fleming two minutes from the end of normal time.

“However this happened, there was absolutely no intention of getting one up on Kildare.

“There were only two minutes left when the sub came on, and with the score the way it was, Tom Ryan just wanted to give some players a run out. It would be an awful travesty if we were kicked out of the championship over this,” one official said.

Westmeath officials stress that they were assured by the fourth official that the replacement was legitimate. And they are not without precedents.

Confusion over blood subs saw Cork use an illegitimate sub against Tipperary in the Munster SFC two years ago, but Tipp took no action.

Kildare footballers were at the centre of a similar controversy last year when they used six subs in a league match against Sligo. The north-west county agreed to a rematch.

Dublin, waiting in the wings, won’t know until Thursday who they will play in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Laois dual player Darren Rooney will line out in two crucial senior championship ties in 24 hours later this month.

The Clonaslee-St Manman’s player, one of the last few players balancing both codes at the highest level, will line out for Paudie Butler’s hurlers against Offaly in Tullamore on Saturday, May 29 in a Leinster SHC quarter-final tie.

The following afternoon, Rooney looks set to start for the provincial champions in their SFC opener against Carlow at Dr Cullen Park.

Rooney, a wing-back in last year’s provincial success, is considered a definite starter by both managers.

“Darren will be playing Saturday night with us,” Butler confirmed yesterday. “There’s no doubt about that. It’s not the perfect scenario to have two games in two days but he’s a fit lad and he’ll be able to handle it.

“It is a big game, it’s the biggest game of the season for us and the one we’ve been looking forward to the whole year,” admitted Butler.

“We’ll give it a good go in Tullamore. Laois and Offaly games are usually good, tight games and that might be the case again in two weeks’ time.”

Laois’s optimism appeared well founded after a spring spent going toe to toe with some of the country’s finest in Division One.

Aside from a humiliation in Galway, results and performances boded well, particularly the win over Offaly in Birr last month that demoted Mike McNamara’s side to Division Two.

However, their first two championship outings against Carlow and Meath last Sunday have given Butler cause for concern, with his side looking lethargic.

“We’ve been okay for 20 minutes but we haven’t taken the bit between our teeth and gone on like we wanted to,” Butler admitted. “You don’t know how that will affect you until the next day, whether or not you have it in reserve. We wanted someone to take the match to us the last two days but that didn’t come. When it was won we stopped playing.”