Footballer ordered to pay €20,000 for ‘nasty’ off-the-ball match assault

A GAA player who fractured another footballer’s eye socket, leaving him with impaired vision after an “off-the-ball” incident in a club match, avoided jail but must pay €20,000 compensation.

Tom Molloy (26), who was on the Westmeath county panel at the time, was playing midfield for his club, Shandonagh, against local rivals Maryland during an away challenge match on February 24th, 2019, when the incident took place.

He was handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence on Friday after he pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to Maryland GAA’s wing-forward Liam Reilly.

The self-employed electrician, of Rathcolman, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, who has no previous criminal convictions, admitted using excessive force, claiming there had been an earlier interaction during the match.

Mr Reilly was in severe pain due to the injury, and was treated by specialists at St James’s Hospital and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin, requiring regular…