Probe into City manager’s leg injury

THE Manager of the FAI Referees’ Department, Mr Pat Kelly, last night said he would today inquire into the circumstances that led to Cork City manager, Pat Dolan, receiving a leg injury in the course of the match at Tolka Park on Friday.

Mr Dolan claimed that a Shelbourne player had reached backwards with his leg while in the act of taking a throw-in opposite the Cork dug-out and caught him on the shin.

His attempts to bring his injury to the notice of the match referee, Mr John McDermott, were frustrated and he reported the incident to two gardaí after the match.

Said Mr Kelly: "Pat Dolan gave me a report of the incident and showed me his injury on Saturday. I'll be at FAI headquarters on Monday and I will discuss the issue with the principals involved.

'If there is nothing in the referee's report and if the officials did not see any incident then that is obviously a problem from our point of view.

But it is possible we will look for a video of the match we have looked at video evidence in the past and I don't see why not."

Said Mr Dolan yesterday: "I have not made up my mind on what action to take. I did not want to create a scene on Friday because it was Shelbourne's night, they had just won the League and I did not want to spoil that.

'There are stud marks down the front of my shin and I was bleeding after the player caught me with his studs through my pants. It was an outrageous act and what was really upsetting from my point of view is that the referee did not look at it.

"I spoke to the fourth official but I don't think he saw what happened. But I wasn't able to show my leg to the referee. That's what was most upsetting, a player ran his studs down my shin with such force that I was bleeding but people in the league just did not want to know."