O’Boyle felled as sideline row sours clash

St Eunan’s joint manager, Eamon O’Boyle, was left dazed after being pushed to the ground during anincident on the sideline at yesterday’s Ulster Club SFC fixture at Armagh’s Athletic Grounds yesterday.

The Ballina native was clearly out of sorts after the incident, which occurred midway through the first half, and was led back to a bench towards the halfway line where he sat downand recovered his senses.

A number of people from both camps became involved after O’Boyle’s fall, which occurred while a similar bout of pushing and shoving took place among players on the field, including one child who repeatedly shoved a member of the Crossmaglen backroom team.

GAA president Liam O’Neill was among the crowd looking on from the main stand and the incident again demonstrated why the issue of numbers and protocol on sidelines at GAA matches must be addressed again.

“What exactly happened was I was going down the field to tell one of our players to do something and I wasbasically told to f-off up my own side of the field and I just kept going and I was pushed and I actually pushed the man back,” said O’Boyle.

“Then he hit me a fair push and I fell and hit my head off the ground. Like, I am as entitled to be anywhere asanybody else on the sideline so I thought it was out of order whathappened.”

However, the Eunan’s man brushed the significance of the incident aside in a game which his side eventually lost by 10 points, claiming he did not hold a grudge against the individual involved.

“Look, these things always happen in the heat of the moment. There are no ill feelings, we shook hands after and you put it behind you. It is done, it is behind you, that is what football is all about.”