Moorefield to appeal Flynn six-month ban

KILDARE football boss Kieran McGeeney will be delighted to hear there’s a possibility that star midfielder Daryl Flynn will be available for next year’s NFL campaign.

A six month ban has been proposed for Flynn following an alleged altercation with the match referee in Moorefield’s Leinster Club SFC loss to Portlaoise, at O’Moore Park on October 24.

After being shown two yellow cards and a subsequent red by referee Derek Fahy, Flynn was reported by the Longford official in the wake of an alleged post-match exchange between the two men.

McGeeney’s hands were tied regarding a possible appeal to the Leinster Council against Flynn’s proposed ban, as the fixture in question was staged under the jurisdiction of the provincial body.

The Leinster decision would have ruled out Flynn, one of the Lilywhites’ key performers in this year’s run to the All-Ireland semi-final against Down, until after the completion of next season’s NFL campaign.

That would have been an additional blow for McGeeney to suffer, as it would reduce his midfield options, with Dermot Earley, recovering from knee surgery, unavailable for the spring programme, and long-serving Killian Brennan having announced his retirement.

But now the Moorefield club have revealed that they intend to lodge an appeal against the Leinster Council ban.

It’s unlikely that the provincial body will rescind the ban, but in similar cases the suspension is frequently reduced by 50 per cent, meaning that Flynn would be ruled out for only 12 weeks.

Such a scenario would mean the player’s suspension would expire on January 16, and thus leave him available for Kildare’s entire NFL programme, which is not scheduled to start until February 6.

Moorefield club chairman Peter White has revealed that the Newbridge outfit is extremely disappointed with the decision of the provincial body.

“What the Leinster Council is proposing is unfair, and we intend doing all we can to achieve justice for Daryl Flynn,” said White. “We are prepared to take this all the way.”

As well, Moorefield team manager Jack Sheedy, the former Dublin star, was scathing in his assessment of referee Fahy’s performance in the match against the Laois champions, and claimed the second yellow card handed out to Flynn was totally unjustified.

Flynn’s Moorefield and Kildare teammate Ronan Sweeney was handed a four week ban by the Leinster Council in the aftermath of the provincial club tie, but Moorefield say they will not be contesting his suspension.