Former Tyrone midfielder and well-known lawyer Fergal Logan is to assist Monaghan star Tommy Freeman in his bid to have an eight-week suspension lifted. Freeman received the ban in the wake of Monaghan's Ulster SFC first round defeat to Derry on May 24 for 'attempting to strike with the head'. The Central Hearings Committee upheld the ban, and Freeman's frustration was compounded when the Derry duo Fergal Doherty and Brian Mullan had similar suspensions halved on appeal. Former Derry footballer and barrister Joe Brolly submitted the appeal for Fergal Doherty, while Derry Central Council delegate Gerard O'Kane used unseen video footage to show that Brian Mullan had not kneed Conor McManus in the groin area. The Monaghan county board's recruitment of Logan would suggest they intend mounting a rigorous appeal to the Disputes Resolution Authority. Logan has enjoyed some success at DRA hearings, most famously reducing Ryan McMenamin's suspension in 2005 to allow him to line out for Tyrone against Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final. He also successfully challenged a three-month ban that was issued to Derry's Paddy Bradley for 'minor interference with a match official' during a club game last year. Tweet

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