Former Cork City player has yellow card upgraded to lengthy ban for headbutt

Roy ODonovan can have no complaints over the punishment he has received for a headbutt on an opponent in an A-League game last week.

The former Cork City man is now playing for Central Coast Mariners in Australia, and was caught on camera last week going head to head with Manny Muscat of Wellington Phoenix. The ex-Sunderland striker was only booked for the incident and was allegedly provoked by a flailing elbow moments earlier. https://twitter.com/Outside90/status/682497813435920386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Reports today suggest he's been hit with an eight-week ban while Muscat has been hit with a two week sanction. https://twitter.com/WgtnPhoenixFC/status/684659825121181696 The written judgement indicates that O'Donovan pled guilty to a violent conduct offence and will have a number of days to appeal one of the longest bans handed out to any player in A-League history.

"The Player pleaded guilty to the offence of “Assault on a Player (e.g. violent conduct when not challenging for the ball)”. "The Disciplinary Committee determined that the Player must serve a suspension of eight (8) matches. "The Player has the right to appeal the determination of the Disciplinary Committee. If the Player intends to do so, he must advise FFA within 7 days of receiving the written determination."