Shamrocks lose objection to Offaly SFC quarter-final defeat

AS expected, Shamrocks GAA Club have lost their objection to their Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship defeat to Ferbane.

The Offaly GAA Competitions Control Committee dismissed their appeal at a meeting on Thursday evening, enforcing the rule that a score given or not given during a game can't be overturned. Shamrocks were notified that their appeal had been lost a while after it was heard. They will now discuss the outcome with the players before deciding if they are going to take up their option of appealing the Offaly decision to Leinster Council.

Shamrocks GAA's appeal had centred on an early two pointer given to Ferbane's Adam Egan. Egan was inside the arc when the ball was kicked and it should have only counted as one point but referee Chris Dwyer signalled for a two pointer.

Shamrocks decided to appeal at a committee meeting on Monday evening after consulting with players – they met with two players who then went away and consulted with the wider player group, later informing the club that they wished to pursue the issue.

Joint managers John Monaghan and Brian Kinnarney resigned on Tuesday in protest, with Monaghan saying they hadn't been consulted and complaining that the club had not shown them “respect”.

The appeal has proved divisive in Shamrocks with a growing mood for taking it on throughout last Monday but also a significant groundswell of opposition among members. If they pursue an appeal further and it ends up in the championship being delayed, it will prove very unpopular with the wider Offaly GAA public and the hope is that the matter will end now – especially as a further appeal is unlikely to succeed.

The belief that an appeal could succeed had been fuelled by a case in Fermanagh some weeks ago where a club was given a replay after it was proven that two two pointers should have been one pointers.

This led to confusion around the country, prompting Croke Park to clarify the relevant rule to counties and instruct them to enforce it. Subsequent appeals of this nature in Carlow and Mayo were lost with the Mayo case going to Connacht Council, who also dismissed it.

There was images and footage of the controversial point in circulation but the relevant rule meant that the result could not be challenged on that basis.

Part (ii) of rule 7.5n states that an objection can be upheld if it is “proven that a score allowed during the course of the game was either not recorded or incorrectly recorded by the referee and that error has affected the result of the game”.

That part, however, relates to a referee making a mistake such as marking a point or goal down for the wrong team or not writing down a score.

The rule goes on to say that an objection or counter objection on the grounds that the referee “incorrectly allowed/or failed to allow a score during play shall be deemed to be out of order”.

The Ferbane two pointer was very much covered by that and it meant that the Shamrocks' appeal could not succeed.

There were plenty of other talking points in a fantastic game of football where Ferbane came back from six points down to win by 2-17 to 3-15 and Shamrocks were desperately unlucky to lose – big calls went against them but there was also a significant element of self-implosion in their loss.

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In the wake of the Mayo-Connacht Council case, it would be very unlikely that an appeal will succeed at Leinster Council and the wise path is that Shamrocks will let it lie at this stage, having made their point and made their displeasure known – the Shamrocks' appeal affects far more than them and if it somehow succeeded, the implications for the GAA if scores given or not given could be challenged afterwards would be unfathomable.