Royals set to appeal Bray’s suspension
Bray was shown a straight red card in the closing stages for an off-the-ball altercation with Limerick defender Mark O’Riordan, but there was some confusion afterwards as to whether referee Padraig Hughes made a mistake in not issuing Bray with a second yellow card before that.
“We’re definitely going to be appealing the dismissal,” stated Meath PRO Brendan Cummins. “We don’t know yet when the hearing will be as because of the Bank Holiday, things were a bit slower being sorted out. We don’t know what the situation is with regards to a second yellow card being issued because the RTÉ video evidence is quite unclear. But we have to go all the way with these things to try and get Stephen playing. We’re quite annoyed over what happened. Stephen was coming into great form and he’d be a huge loss if he is absent.”
Meath’s opponents Mayo are set to give full-forward Barry Moran every chance of featuring next weekend despite the fact that he broke a bone in his hand in training last week. Manager John O’Mahony admitted it is unlikely that Moran will play but that they will “keep the door open” for the Castlebar Mitchels player.
“It looks like he is out,” said O’Mahony. “He’s in a cast at the minute but we’ll be looking at every possibility. It does look like he’s out (but) if there’s any way around it we’ll always keep the door open.”
If Moran is ruled out, then Billy Joe Padden and Tom Parsons are set to battle it out to fill the vacant full-forward spot. U21 star Parsons started at midfield in the opening round of the Connacht championship against New York while Padden has only featured in a substitute capacity this season.
Elsewhere Donal Vaughan is strongly tipped for a starting spot in defence after he impressed when replacing Liam O’Malley at corner-back in the Connacht final. Corner-forward Aidan Kilcoyne, who incurred a hamstring injury against Galway and was withdrawn at half-time, has shaken off that problem and Conor Mortimer, who sparkled with a 1-2 scoring burst when introduced in the Connacht decider, looks set to be restricted to the role of impact sub again. Goalkeeper David Clarke could reclaim his place on the panel following a long absence with a groin injury but Tom Cunniffe is ruled out again with a groin problem.
Meanwhile Waterford stalwart Ken McGrath could yet feature at some stage during next Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Kilkenny. McGrath has been sidelined since undergoing knee surgery after the Munster SHC semi-final draw with Limerick in June, but he had been targeting an All-Ireland semi-final as a possible comeback date if Waterford managed to progress that far. It is understood that McGrath will not start as he has not done any serious squad training recently but he could be introduced as a substitute by manager Davy Fitzgerald. But for Abbeyside player Gary Hurney, this match comes too soon as he recovers from a broken collarbone.
Kilkenny boss Brian Cody looks likely to welcome full-back Noel Hickey into his starting line-up as the Dunamaggin man has recovered from an injury-plagued season. Hickey underwent a groin operation earlier this year and then damaged knee ligaments in the build-up to the Leinster final, but is tipped to start in the No. 3 position on Sunday, which would in turn release JJ Delaney out to his recognised half-back berth. Midfielder James Fitzpatrick is also believed to be pushing for a starting spot having been introduced in the second half of the Leinster decider triumph over Dublin.
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