Decision to stage seven-minute Louth play-off is overruled

THE bizarre decision to play a seven-minute game to decide which team will be relegated from the Louth IFC has been overruled.

The Wee County hearings committee ruled the time left when the floodlights failed at Clogherhead in the play-off between Naomh Fionnbarra and Oliver Plunketts had to be played.

Naomh Fionnbarra were leading by four points but when the referee tried to finish the tie with light restored, a number of the Oliver Plunketts players had left.

The Louth CCC subsequently awarded the game to Naomh Fionnbarra and suspended 14 players of the opposing team — the one to escape a ban had been sent off.! The hearings committee lifted the suspensions and gave the Drogheda side seven minutes to save their intermediate status with the bizarre ruling.

But a Leinster Council meeting on Thursday night upheld an appeal by Oliver Plunketts and sent the matter back to the Louth hearings committee with instructions not to play a seven-minute game. The teams may be asked to play-off over the regulation hour’s duration but there are suggestions a compromise could be reached to allow both teams to remain in the intermediate grade.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Cavan County Board is confident coach John Morrison will link up with their senior team in January despite suffering a serious illness.

Tom Reilly said while Morrison has suffered a stroke, it was at the lower end of the scale and he was treated within a short time of it happening last week.

Reilly said Morrison, who has held coaching roles in a number of counties including Mayo, Derry, Donegal and Leitrim, was already making plans to be back in action after being brought on board as coach by Cavan. “He is making a great recovery. He didn’t have a full blast of a stroke, but he did have one. Thankfully his speech, movement and temperament are all the same. I just spoke with him the other night and he is looking forward to coming back.

“He’ll return to us again, I expect we’ll see him back with us by late January, the McKenna Cup will be on by then.”