Shamrocks GAA Club releases two statements after deciding against further appeal to controversial Offaly SFC loss

SHAMROCKS GAA Club have decided against pursuing another appeal to their defeat to Ferbane in a controversial Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship quarter-final.

After a meeting of players and the committee on Friday evening, the Offaly club have decided to let the matter lie at that and not take up their option of a further appeal to Leinster Council.

They had objected on the basis of a wrongly awarded two point Ferbane score in the match – Adam Egan's fifth minute point was given as a two pointer by referee Chris Dwyer but should have counted as one point as he was clearly inside the two point arc.

Shamrocks produced their best football of the year by a mile in an excellent game of football and were desperately unlucky to lose by a solitary point, 3-15 to 2-17. It was the best game of the championship by a distance and apart from that two pointer, there were a host of other talking points in it.

Shamrocks' objection was dismissed at a meeting of the Offaly GAA Competitions Control Committee on Thursday evening and they convened a meeting with players on Friday evening to decide if they would take up their option of an appeal to Leinster Council.

It had been anticipated that they would let it lie this stage as a further appeal would be doomed to failure and they had made their protest in any case – holding up the championship and a refixture was not truly in anyone's interest, including Shamrocks', and their decision on Friday evening is not a surprise.

The club have released two statements, explaining that their decision to let it go now was an unanimous one and outlining the respect and admiration they have for match officials.

A joint one from the Shamrocks committee and Players' Group said that while they were disappointed at the outcome, they were happy they had received a “fair hearing”.

“The Shamrocks Executive Committee and Players Group convened this evening to consider the outcome of our appeal concerning the result of the Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship quarter-final.

“Following careful discussion, we have unanimously agreed not to pursue the matter further. While we are disappointed with the decision of the County Board, we are satisfied that our case was given a fair hearing. It has been confirmed that no rules were contravened in the awarding of the additional point to Ferbane.
“We extend our best wishes to Ferbane and to the other remaining teams as they continue their campaigns in this year’s championship.
“We also wish to place on record our respect for the match officials. We recognise the challenging nature of their role and greatly value the dedication, integrity, and commitment they contribute to the game.
“As a club, our attention now turns to the future, and we look forward with renewed focus to returning to the field of play in 2026.”

A second brief statement from the Shamrocks committee on their own praised the panel for their commitment and professionalism all year and during the appeals process as they looked forward to the future:

“We would like to place on record our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Shamrocks players for their commitment and dedication throughout the year. While last Sunday’s result did not go as we had hoped, we remain immensely proud of our panel — both for their performance on the day and for the professionalism and attitude they displayed during the appeal process throughout the week.
“We are confident that, with this group of players, the club is in a strong position moving forward.”

The Offaly GAA Competitions Control Committee had 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.

After that Shamrocks decided to convene a meeting with players' on Friday evening before deciding their next course of action and while they would have went with whatever the players' wanted, the decision to let it go at this stage is a very wise one.

Shamrocks had initially 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.

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.

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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 was never going to succeed.