Carlow full-back Mark Brennan has failed in his bid to have a four-week suspension quashed by the GAA's Central Disciplinary Committee.
The Old Leighlin defender was red carded during Carlow's Leinster SFC first round victory over Wicklow. Brennan's appeal failure means he can only maintain a watching brief for this Sunday's quarter-final tie with Laois at O'Moore Park.
Carlow manager Liam Hayes accompanied Brennan to last night's CDC meeting at Croke Park, but video evidence of the sending off incident proved inconclusive.
Hayes was understandably angry at the slowness of the whole process. The Carlow-Wicklow clash took place on May 21.
Speaking on Monday, the former Meath midfielder said: "The referees report has not come in yet which is unusual and leaves us behind the black ball.
'We were expecting it mid-week last week. (The county secretary) Tommy O'Neill's pursuit of the issues with Croke Park have run into stone walls which is unhelpful.
'At least in a court of law you see the charge sheet and you know what you have to defend yourself against. In light of the legal precedents which have been set against the GAA, you'd think they'd be a bit hotter out of the blocks in dealing with a situation like this,' he told the Carlow Nationalist.
Carlow head to Portlaoise looking for their first championship win over Laois since 1988, however the Barrowsiders' easy 4-09 to 0-12 defeat of Wicklow will have them travelling with a degree of confidence.
