Three Mullagh players are to be hit with proposed 48-week bans following a fractious senior hurling semi-final after which the referee required a Garda escort to get to his dressingroom. And in a further twist, the Galway senior hurling final scheduled for Sunday week could be postponed if the Mullagh club lodge an objection.

The three players from Mullagh who are facing the 48-week bans have requested personal hearings. But in a separate development, the Mullagh club are considering lodging an objection and requesting that their controversial semi-final with Loughrea be replayed.

Central to their argument will be the position of Galway Hurling Board chairman Miko Ryan who presided over a meeting of the fixtures committee when the semi-final game between Loughrea and Mullagh was finalised.

Ryan was at that time supposed to be serving the final sixteen days of an eight-week ban which was implemented in the summer but which he initially successfully appealed before it was recently imposed again.

Ryan was suspended for eight weeks following an investigation into an altercation between him and Galway hurling selector John Moylan in the second-half of their Leinster championship semi-final against Kilkenny. It is understood that the altercation arose when Ryan attempted to stop a physio from entering the field and selector Moylan took him to task on interfering.

A key part to the crux will be whether or not chairman Ryan had received official notification that the remaining part of his suspension had been re-imposed when he chaired the meeting which finalised the fixtures. Mullagh, whose bid to reach their first Galway final since 1966 ended in controversy when Loughrea were awarded a match-winning free in the dying seconds, are outraged at the bans being proposed on their three players.

Referee Christy Helebert, a former Galway senior hurler, remained on the pitch for almost ten minutes before being escorted by Gardai to his dressingroom.

In his report, he alleges he was assaulted by three Mullagh players. Portumna and Loughrea are due to meet for the fourth time in seven years in the Galway final on Sunday week when Portumna will bid to take another step towards becoming the first side ever to win three All-Ireland club titles in a row.

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