O’Carroll in clear for final despite picture of poke

Rory O’Carroll is unlikely to miss out on Dublin’s All-Ireland final on September 22 despite a photograph showing him making contact with Colm Cooper’s face on Sunday.

Sportsfile’s Paul Mohan captured an off-the-ball incident involving the pair and Jonny Cooper during the second half of the All-Ireland semi-final.

The index finger of O’Carroll’s left hand appears to be touching the Kerry forward’s left eye. However, the GAA can only deal with retrospective cases providing they have video evidence. The Kerry County Board are unlikely to follow up the matter.

Rule 7.3 (aa) states such evidence is admissible as long as it is “reliable and unedited”.

A snapshot of the altercation is not sufficient enough proof to base any case against O’Carroll.

A similar incident but with video evidence occurred in the Mayo-Donegal Division 1 game in Castlebar in March involving Anthony Thompson and Kevin McLoughlin. However, no action was taken by the Central Competitions Controls Committee (CCCC). Speaking on this issue before, GAA head of media relations Alan Milton said: “A photograph is an instant moment and there is the possibility it could be misrepresentative of what exactly happened. I’ve never known it to be used as primary evidence. Maybe it could be to support video evidence but certainly not on its own.”

Diarmuid Connolly was sent off for a straight red card offence by Maurice Deegan in the 2011 All-Ireland semi-final against Donegal, a dismissal which threatened to rule him out of the final. However, Dublin successfully contested the decision and he was made available.

Meanwhile, Cillian O’Connor’s chances of being fit for the All-Ireland final have increased with the star attacker returning to non-contact training. The two-time Young Footballer of the Year has beenpractising frees in recent days and his shoulder injury, which forced him to retire early in the All-Ireland semi-final win over Tyrone, isn’t as serious as was first feared. The likelihood is the Ballintubber man will require surgery over the coming months but with 19 days to go to the decider he is preparing to fight to keep his starting place.