Off-the-ball incident leaves Fermanagh player in a coma

A young Gaelic footballer has been hospitalised in San Francisco and is reportedly 'in a critical condition' following an incident in a club match last Saturday.

Fermanagh's Mark McGovern was making his first appearance for Ulster San Francisco since travelling Stateside for a three-month stint, along with his Belcoo O'Rahilly's club-mates Emmet Scollan and Ciaran Flaherty.

An off-the-ball incident involving McGovern and a player from the Celts team left him with a head injury. The 22-year-old received immediate medical treatment and was rushed to a local hospital.

McGovern, a promising defender with Belcoo, lined out for Fermanagh in this year's Dr McKenna Cup and was part of the Ernesiders' panel for the Allianz League.

A statement from Belcoo O'Rahilly's read: "The club would like to ask all its members to keep Mark McGovern and his family in our thoughts and prayers. Mark suffered a severe head injury during his debut for Ulster San Francisco on Saturday night and he has been in a coma since.

"Two other Belcoo players, Emmet Scollan and Ciaran Flaherty, were playing the the same game and they have been at Mark's bedside since. Messages of support have been overwhelming but we would like to keep the three lads in our prayers and we hope Mark comes around shortly and he can make a full recovery."

Tim Harney from Antrim, who is living with McGovern in San Francisco, tweeted that his room-mate's condition is improving.

He said that the incident was 'a cowardly act' on the behalf of the other player, who allegedly struck McGovern in the face.

Deirdre Donnelly, the Fermanagh County Board PRO, spoke about McGovern's current condition on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland programme.

"At the moment we know that he's still unconscious and in a coma but he has shown some signs of response in the last day or so, so things have improved slightly," she said.

"But obviously, there's a good bit to go yet and we're just hoping and praying that he makes a full recovery.

"Mark has just finished his studies. He and two other fellows from the club decided just to go out for the summer. They got their sanctions and landed out in San Francisco last week and they were really looking forward to spending the summer doing a bit of holidaying and just playing football."

Asked about the possibility of an investigation into the incident, Donnelly replied: "I would presume so. It will be entirely up to the GAA in San Francisco to deal with it but I've no doubt that they will investigate it like the GAA would do here at home."