On-going dispute puts Dublin hurlers on hold

DUBLIN’s Leinster SHC campaign won’t start for another week as their opening match, a quarter-final clash with either Westmeath or Kildare, has been postponed by the provincial council.

The on-going controversy over the number of subs Westmeath used in their recent mauling of Kildare means that the capital side won’t know the identity of their opponents until Saturday at the earliest The Leinster council confirmed yesterday that an investigation committee will discuss the incident on Friday evening, with the GAC meeting the following afternoon to reach a decision. Kildare manager Morgan Lawlor has called for the Leinster council to order a replay between his team and Westmeath, saying he does not want Tom Ryan’s side thrown out of the competition, but the integrity of the rule-book must be upheld.

However, Westmeath officials remain adamant that the error was made by the fourth official who ratified their sixth substitution. The Westmeath county board had already asked the fourth official how many subs they had made.