Board action angers Portumna

PORTUMNA have claimed that the injuries sustained by Joe Canning in this year’s Galway county final were a direct result of what they have described as a ‘‘dereliction of duty’’ by the county board.

Last year’s All-Ireland Club champions have also questioned the impartiality of the referee in that match, Michael Conway, who they claim has ‘‘close personal ties’’ with the town of Loughrea.

It is five weeks since Portumna lost to Loughrea in a hugely controversial county hurling final but, after taking ‘‘due care and time’’, the beaten finalists yesterday released a lengthy statement of almost 900 words listing their grievances with what happened, both on the day and in the aftermath.

A subsequent investigation by the Galway GAC suspended one player from each side but two Portumna selectors were also punished, a decision which incensed the club and prompted them to say yesterday that they were ‘‘grossly dissatisfied with its unfair and unsupported depiction of what transpired during the game’’.

The club’s statement included three photographs which they say show a boot about to stamp Joe Canning’s face, another depicting the youngster attempting to cover his face with his hands and a third which shows his bloodied face immediately after the incident.

The club also claims that there were several occurrences of dangerous play during the game, which were not sanctioned by the referee. They claim Joe Canning suffered a dangerously heavy frontal charge knocking him to the ground prior to the stamping incident which the referee described as accidental and punished with a yellow card.

‘‘It must be considered the GAA’s absolute duty to protect as far as possible each player,’’ said the statement which was signed by club PRO Dan Lynch. ‘‘It is the club’s view that there was a total dereliction of this duty of care in the manner in which the Board appointed the referee.’’

It went on: ‘‘Especially against the background of information that was cogently at hand to the County Hurling Board at the precise time that action could have been taken to ensure that the kind of incidents that occurred could have been avoided.’’

The statement reiterated the club’s previous stance that they had sought a change of referee because their view was that Michael Conway would not be a strict enough arbiter for the game.

In the event, a letter addressing their concerns was not read out at a subsequent meeting of the hurling board even though chairman Michael Ryan stated that night that he was concerned about rumours suggesting that Joe Canning would be ‘‘taken out’’ of the game.

‘‘As a simple requirement of fair play, Michael Conway should not have been asked to referee the game, because of his close personal ties to the town of Loughrea which should be well known to the County Hurling Board.’’ the statement continued.

The statement made no mention of whether or not Ollie and Joe Canning would continue to play for Galway’s representative teams — Ollie described it as 50/50 yesterday — but it did include a doctor’s report on the injuries sustained by Joe.

After the final, there was some confusion as to whether or not the underage star had received stitches but a report from Hurling Board doctor Dr Ian O’Connor was included in the statement confirming that his wounds required ‘‘chemical suturing’’ or stitches.