There's a crazy story in today's Donegal Democrat whereby Kerry great and Donegal anti-hero Pat Spillane claims that in his walk down the Clonliffe after Donegal's mauling of Cork, Donegal supporters went as far as assaulting him. We've seen the youtube video of the slagging Spillane received but apparently the abuse also got physical:
Once the game was over, as I always do, I left Croke Park immediately because I have over a four and a half hour journey ahead of me back to Kerry,” Spillane told the Democrat yesterday. “As I was headed out of Croke Park and walking up Clonliffe Road, there must have been 10,000 Donegal supporters on the road.“Many of them were shouting at me and most of the comment was good-humoured banter. But I just kept my head down and carried on about my business before the next thing I knew was that a flag was dropped in front of me and I was surrounded by a number of supporters and I received a couple of belts to the stomach.”
Spillane goes on to say he didn't feel safe until he made it to Urlingford. Was he expecting a drive-by? Spillane being Spillane, he took like a man and said there'll be no Garda investigation.
Joe Brolly has called the assault 'scandalous' and the Donegal county board has apologised.
