No pictures, so no sound basis for O’Leary appeal

CORK are unlikely to appeal Noel O’Leary’s straight red card as there appears to be no video footage of his off-the-ball altercation with Kerry forward Barry John Keane in Sunday’s Allianz League Division 1 opener.

It initially seemed the Cork captain had been dismissed for a separate incident as referee Michael Duffy, following consultation with his linesman, had allowed play to continue after sending off Keane.

In the next break in play (a Kerry wide), Duffy spoke with an umpire and O’Leary was subsequently ordered off the pitch. However, it’s understood he was sent off for his involvement in the incident with Keane — despite not being reprimanded by Duffy in the first place.

TG4 have confirmed their cameras didn’t pick it up.

“We have to wait on the referee’s report,” said Cork PRO Ger Lane, “but if there is no footage of what happened and therefore no evidence to the contrary there’s not much that can be done.”

Meanwhile Cork defender Paudie Kissane is targeting Saturday week’s showpiece Allianz Football League game against Dublin in Croke Park as his comeback date from injury. Kissane missed the opening day victory over Kerry as he is sidelined with a groin injury but the Clyda Rovers player is hopeful to be back in harness for the meeting with Pat Gilroy’s men.

“I’m sidelined at the moment with a minor groin injury. It’s nothing major but it’s important to get it looked after. I just want it to recover now so that it won’t be interfering with me towards the end of the year. At the moment I’d be hopeful that I’ll be back for the next league game but we’ll have to see how it goes over the next week or so, to see how it goes in training.”

Cork’s win on Sunday saw new faces like David Goold and Denis O’Sullivan, who both impressed in the McGrath Cup, get substitute cameos in the second-half and with new GAA regulations concerning 26-man panels being introduced this season, Kissane believes the competitiveness in the Cork panel will be heightened.

“There’s huge competition now for places after the McGrath Cup. It’s a great competition to get to see new players and they’re getting great competitive experience of senior intercounty football. The rule that for championship it’s now down to a 26 man panel is going to make it more competitive for us. It’s probably unfair on the four lads who will now miss out but I think counties are still going to carry 30 players for training. You need that number for a full game anyway. But these are the things that we have no control over so there’s no real point in us worrying about it.

“Fella’s enjoyed their break after the All-Ireland but it’s time to move on too. We got a great reception as we went around the county and we’ve a lot of good memories from that time. But we can look back on that when we retire, if we want to build on it now, we have to knuckle down and start working hard. We have to move on or you won’t be long being brought back down to earth.”