Dublin GAA chiefs are expected to investigate a brawl that erupted during a club hurling match over the weekend. A mobile phone video of the touchline melee – which appears to show one player being struck on the head with a hurley – has gone viral on social media. St Sylvester’s of Malahide were hosting Setanta of Ballymun in the Dublin senior 3 hurling championship, at Broomfield on Saturday evening, when trouble flared deep into stoppage time. According to one eye-witness account, there had been nothing untoward in the entire game bar some “sledging” before a flashpoint occurred in front of the Sylvester’s dugout and “all hell kicked off”. During the subsequent row, one video shows a Sylvester’s hurler apparently being struck on the head by a non-player who is carrying a hurley. The player backs away, holding his head, and then briefly goes to ground before getting back up. The player in question is wearing a tracksuit top – it’s understood he had started the game but was substituted beforehand. Dublin county board vice-chairman Ken O’Sullivan confirmed that he had seen coverage of the incident. O’Sullivan, a member of the Dublin Competitions Control Committee, said: “We will review the referee’s report tomorrow (Tuesday) at our CCC meeting. That’s our normal course of action. We will take appropriate action based on the referee’s report.” Contacted by the Irish Independent, a spokesperson for the Sylvester’s team said the county board had asked for “whatever video there is, so I presume they’re doing something about it and I can’t really prejudice that.” Asked about their injured player, he reported that his “head is still sore.” A Setanta mentor had “no comment to make” but alluded to “a lot of videos going around, so we’ll just let due process take its course.” A member of the club executive also declined to comment. The match itself was not abandoned. Once calm was restored, referee Sean McCarthy resumed play with a free-out but then immediately blew for full-time. Setanta won by 2-18 to 1-17, a result that sees them advance from the group stages of Dublin SHC3 to the quarter-finals, whereas Sylvester’s now face a relegation play-off.
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