Laois football managers in major row

IT emerged last night that a major row has erupted in Laois after the county U-21 manager Sean Dempsey rang three of his players on Saturday night.

He told them they would be dropped from his panel if they played for Mick O’Dwyer’s senior side against Kerry yesterday.

Donie Brennan, Colm Kelly (St Joseph’s) and Colm Kelly (Stradbally) were on the team bus on the way to Kerry when they received the calls from Dempsey and it seems that his selector John Mulligan has followed through on a threat to resign after the two Kellys ended up playing in Fitzgerald Stadium.

The reasoning behind Dempsey and Mulligan’s rigid stance is their own team’s All-Ireland U-21 semi-final against Cork which is due to be played next weekend.

O’Dwyer and Dempsey reached agreement on the matter of the U21 players’ availability some months ago and the Kerryman has only asked for their services sparingly since then.

O’Dwyer felt it was necessary to play the two Kellys due to injuries and he was backed up by a county executive meeting earlier in the week.