Derry’s Conway handed 48-week ban
The James Conway saga delivered another twist yesterday with confirmation that the Derry football panellist has been handed a 48-week suspension by a hearings committee in the county.
Conway had originally been given an eight-week ban for his part in an incident in a club game when Kilrea’s James Kielt, another Derry county player, was left with a fractured jaw. He was also dropped from Damien Cassidy’s senior panel.
That eight-week ban was subsequently lifted due to a lack of evidence but the latest suspension has been issued after Conway himself gave his version to the hearings committee on Tuesday evening.
It seems that the latest decision will also have ramifications for Conway’s club Ballinderry who were originally banned from all adult competitions for six months for the club’s failure to cooperate with the disciplinary process.
That suspension was reduced to three months on appeal shortly after. That still would have prevented them from defending their county title but, as of Tuesday night, they will now be free to do so.
However, they have been deducted four league points and will have to play all their league games away from home. Two Ballinderry officials had already been suspended for six months.
