Mark Poland has revealed how he was ruled out of the Division Two football league final.

Poland had been named to start against Roscommon at Croke Park on Sunday but had to be withdrawn at the eleventh hour after being struck in the face by a ball just before throw-in.

"Stevie [Kane] was taking a kick-out in the warm-up and I was walking across the 'D'," the Longstone clubman recalls in The Irish News. "He must have mis-kicked the ball and it hit me full in the face.

"I was out cold for a couple of seconds and there was blood coming out of my mouth. The doctors and physio came over. I opened my eye and it was completely blurred. I didn't know what to think.

"There was blood behind the eye but once the blood disperses it should be okay. The hospital gave me drops. It's still blurry at the minute but the drops help clear it."

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