Courcey Rovers consider appealing expulsion
Courcey Rovers are considering appealing their expulsion from the Cork ladies football junior B championship.
On Sunday last, Courcey Rovers’ 19 dual players were asked to play two games within three hours of each other. At 2pm in Castle Road in Cork city, the club’s senior camogie team were in county quarter-final action against Killeagh, while at 5pm in Trabeg, the club’s junior B footballers had a county semi-final against Abhainn Dalla.
With the camogie quarter-final finishing at 3.45pm, a game which Courcey Rovers won on a 1-11 to 0-8 scoreline, the club, in the interest of player welfare, made the decision not to fulfil the ladies football fixture little over an hour later.
Abhainn Dalla took to the field at Trabeg, the ball was thrown in and Abhainn Dalla promptly put the ball in the empty Courcey Rovers goal to take the verdict and secure their place in the county final.
The game was the subject of much discussion at Monday’s county board meeting, with a vote taken on whether to allow the result to stand under rule 12 of the Cork LGFA championship rules.
The rule in question states the Cork LGFA fixtures committee has the authority to award a walkover if the two teams in question cannot agree on an alternative date and one team then fails to fulfil the fixture on the original date.
According to a county board spokesperson, the vote to uphold Courcey Rovers’ expulsion was passed unanimously at Monday’s meeting.
The county board stressed the junior B championship master fixture plan was ratified in June and was not subject to change during Cork’s run to the All-Ireland ladies football final.
Members of the Courcey Rovers club met last night to weigh up their options, with a possible appeal to Munster Council being considered.
Courcey Rovers and Abhainn Dalla spent much of last week trying to hammer out an alternative date which suited both clubs.
None could be found and so late on Friday night last, an email was sent to the county board outlining Courcey Rovers’ reluctance to ask their players to play two games in such a short space of time.
The ladies football semi-final was originally scheduled for Kilmichael (4pm) but switched to the home of Nemo Rangers (5pm) to make it possible for Courcey Rovers to play both.
Meanwhile, Paudie Kissane will not be continuing for a third year as Limerick football coach. The former Cork All-Ireland winner has worked alongside Limerick manager Billy Lee for the past two campaigns, but will not be part of the Treaty set-up in 2019.
