Gareth McKinless Cleared for Ballinderry’s Ulster Club Intermediate Football Final

Derry’s Gareth McKinless, a member of the 2023 All-Star team for his contribution to Derry’s second consecutive Ulster Football title, has received clearance to participate in Ballinderry’s Ulster Club Intermediate Football Final. This match is scheduled for Saturday at Healy Park (17:00 GMT) against Cavan’s Arva, following a successful appeal of a two-match suspension. McKinless had been dismissed from Ballinderry’s Derry Intermediate Final replay victory over Faughanvale due to two yellow cards, but the ban was imposed subsequent to his objections regarding the ruling. The 2023 All-Star player participated in Ballinderry’s provincial semi-final triumph against Derrylaughan, having secured a provisional suspension lift through an appeal to the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA). Nevertheless, the DRA had not yet issued a definitive decision on the case, which it did last week, providing a significant advantage to Ballinderry ahead of their match against the previous year’s All-Ireland Junior Champions. Before the DRA delivered its conclusive judgment on his situation, McKinless stated that he had entrusted “our legal team or whatever you want to call them” with handling the matter. He further commented, “It could be seen as a distraction. We trying and clear it up as best as possible.” Throughout his career, McKinless has been involved in several prominent disciplinary incidents. He received a 48-week ban, subsequently reduced by half, for his involvement in disturbances following Ballinderry’s loss to Slaughtneil in the 2014 Derry Final. Additionally, he incurred a two-match suspension earlier this year after being sent off for stepping on Damien Comer’s ankle during Derry’s All-Ireland Championship group stage match against Galway. Cavan’s Ciaran Brady delivered an outstanding performance in Arva’s victory over Listowel Emmets in the All-Ireland Junior Club Final last January. This season, Ballinderry, despite its continued participation in senior league football within Derry, moved down to the intermediate championship tier in the Oak Leaf County. This represented a significant decline for a club that had claimed the All-Ireland Senior title in 2002. Ballinderry secured provincial senior championships as recently as 2013, overcoming Michael Murphy’s Glenswilly in the final. That year also marked the last time they won the Derry title, though the Shamrocks hold the second position in the county’s historical list of champions with 13 titles. “You’re striving to get back to senior football,” McKinless informed BBC Sport NI during the Ulster GAA-organised finals news conference held last week. “We’ve just taken it game by game this year. We’ve tried to work on anything that maybe wasn’t going well so the boys have done well to win Derry and then to progress on to the Ulster Intermediate Final. It’s a big thing for us [this final].” McKinless anticipates a challenging encounter with the Arva team, which demonstrated its capabilities by defeating Listowel Emmets in the previous season’s All-Ireland Junior final at Croke Park. The Derry defender further commented, “Any team that wins any All-Ireland in any grade, that’s no mean feat and have to be respected. They have a few county players of their own and will be no pushover.” Among Arva’s county players is Ciaran Brady, who distinguished himself in the Croke Park junior final last January by contributing four points during a dynamic performance.