Holders Dublin will be without the versatile Davey Byrne for Sunday's Leinster football final following confirmation of a broken nose suffered in a challenge match incident with an Armagh player.
Dublin manager Jim Gavin spoke on the issue this evening at Dublin's provincial final press briefing but clarified that the Ballymun Kickhams player didn't also fracture his eye socket as previously reported.
The incident took place shortly before the challenge match, which was played last Thursday at the DCU sports grounds in Glasnevin, just a couple of miles from Byrne's native club.
Both the versatile Byrne and the unnamed Armagh player have since been in contact, as well as opposing managers Gavin and Kieran McGeeney, and all concerned have agreed to park the issue.
The game was an officially sanctioned friendly and was refereed by Longford's Fergal Kelly, though it's understood that no disciplinary charges will be brought by the GAA against either player.
"Regrettably, an incident took place before a recent challenge game against Armagh," said Gavin. "It's disappointing because I think discipline would be a core philosophy of both management teams.
"Subsequent to that both players have spoken and they regret what happened and both players are now concentrating on their inter-county careers."
It's understood that the game itself was free from rancour and won by Dublin by nine points. Better news for Dublin is that Bernard Brogan will definitely be available for the provincial decider with Westmeath.
He has been dealing with a hand injury for a number of weeks but scored 2-3 against Kildare in the semi-final and will be available again. Denis Bastick will also return from injury to provide a strong option at midfield.
