GAA player may lose part of ear after brawl

A GAA player could lose part of his ear after allegedly being bitten during a melee at an abandoned Warwickshire SFL game in Coventry.

John Dowling, 22, who plays football for Sean McDermotts, was taken to hospital on Sunday and returned to see a specialist for five hours on Monday following his side’s meeting with Roger Casements.

“We’re still waiting on the final outcome of the tests to see if he’s damaged his cartilage,” said club vice chairman Steve McGerr.

“No medical decision has been taken until the swelling goes down but if he’s damaged the cartilage then part of his ear will be removed. There is still significant bruising on the ear so it’s difficult to tell.

A mass brawl broke out midway through the second-half of the league game when Sean McDermotts were leading by 1-5 to 0-5. It was reported that the contest had played out with little incident before a series of throw-ins descended into a melee.

The referee blew his whistle to abandon the match before walking off the pitch. When order was restored it emerged that Dowling, a Birmingham native, was bleeding from his ear with what appeared to be bite marks around the cut.

Warwickshire County Board are waiting the referee’s report which will be delivered later this week and will not comment until then.

In 2008, Tomás Keane, a Fethard GAA club hurler, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with the final nine months suspended for assaulting Éire Óg Annacarthy hurler Brian Ryan in 2006. Keane was also ordered by the court to pay Ryan €12,000 compensation for estimated economic loss as a result of the injury.

It was the first time in GAA history that a player was jailed for an on-pitch incident, after he bit off part of Ryan’s ear during a match.