by Brendan Cole
Dromid Pearses manager Michael Anthony O’Connell has called for Derrytresk to be thrown out of the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship in the wake of violent clashes during the semi-final between the sides on Sunday.
The match was won by Tyrone side Derrytresk, who beat Kerry outfit Dromid 1-10 to 0-7 in Portlaoise.
Several Dromid players were seriously injured during the match. Midfielder Thomas Curran was concussed near the end of the first half, while half-back Denis 'Shine' O’Sullivan suffered a broken cheekbone. Kerry player Declan O’Sullivan was hit with a handbag at the end of the game.
The incident may yet be investigated by the GAA, which is awaiting the referee's official report. Gardaí have said they will speak to several people about the incident.
O’Connell has alleged that Derrytresk players were involved in serious foul play from the beginning.
According to the Irish Independent, he said: "When our fellas went to shake hands with them, the Derrytresk (players) went for their testicles and pulled them at the start of the game. That conduct has no place on a football field. What they wanted was for our players to retaliate, but we are better than that."
The final is due to be played on 12 February with Clonbur of Galway scheduled to face Derrytresk but O’Connell has called for the Tyrone team to be thrown out of the competition.
He said: "Somebody has to put their foot down. What happened on Sunday has no place in the GAA, it was disgraceful. I don't think I will ever go to a football game again if they are not thrown out. The GAA has to make a stand now.
"There were kids crying in the stand, frightened by what was going on. How do you expect kids to go to football games when this happens?"
O’Connell added: "They absolutely destroyed us. They shattered the team, our lads never before witnessed anything like that. We have no problem being beaten fair and square out on the field but we weren't beaten fairly."
Derrytresk yesterday released a statement expressing their disappointment over the negative commentary which has followed the match.
It said that their players deserve to be in the final, and that the referee and his officials were "best placed to deal with all aspects of Sunday’s game".
It added: "We remain confident that the GAA itself is best placed to provide the correct channels to deal with all matters which may or may not arise from this game.
"We therefore we will be making no further comment on the matter and will continue to prepare for the biggest day in our club history."
FULL TEXT OF DERRYTRESK STATEMENT:
The Derrytresk club are delighted to have made it through to this year’s All Ireland Junior Football Championship club final. Our players thoroughly deserve to be there after all of the hard work that they put in over the last twelve months.
It is disturbing to be on the receiving end of a number of quite serious allegations which have been aimed directly at our club since yesterday afternoon. We are disappointed that such allegations have been aired by GAA people through various media outlets over the last 24 hours.
We believe that the referee and his officials were best placed to deal with all aspects of Sunday’s game. We remain confident that the GAA itself is best placed to provide the correct channels to deal with all matters which may or may not arise from this game.
We therefore we will be making no further comment on the matter and will continue to prepare for the biggest day in our club history.
