Conway suspended by Derry following incident with Kielt

Derry midfielder James Conway has been suspended from the county senior football panel while an investigation is held into the incident in a club game last weekend which left inter-county attacker James Kielt with a broken jaw.

Kielt was playing for his club Kilrea against Conway’s Ballinderry last Sunday in a Derry Division 1 Football League game in Slaughtneil, when an off-the-ball clash occurred.

As the referee did not see the incident Ballinderry were ordered by the Derry County Board to identify which of their players was involved and as a result Conway is no longer involved with the county squad.

The incident has cast a shadow over Derry’s preparations for Sunday week’s Ulster semi-final against Tyrone in Casement Park. Kielt is definitely absent for that game and the Queen’s University student is also doubtful for Derry’s following game, either the Ulster final on July 19th or an All-Ireland qualifier eight days earlier.

Meanwhile in better news for the Derry squad, Fergal Doherty and Brian Mullan have both had their eight-week suspensions halved after appeals to disciplinary chiefs.

"For more on this story, see the Irish Examiner online.