O’Meara claims abusive ‘mob’ forced ref to abandon match

Irate Nenagh Vocational School team manager Stephen O’Meara has claimed “mob rule” forced the abandonment of Saturday’s All-Ireland VS senior hurling ‘A’ semi-final against St Fergal’s, Rathdowney.

Referee Tony Carroll terminated the game after injured St Fergal’s player Shane Cleere was removed from the Templetuohy pitch by ambulance and a re-fixture has been ordered.

But Nenagh VS are furious they have been denied the chance to appear on the same double-bill as Croke Cup finalists Nenagh CBS at Semple Stadium on Saturday. And O’Meara has accused Rathdowney supporters and officials of orchestrating the abandonment of the game, which will be played again at a later date, according to Post-Primary Schools officials at Croke Park.

Nenagh VS are considering an appeal and will travel to GAA HQ tomorrow evening to explain their version of events after Croke Park ordered an investigation into the incident that led to Cleere’s injury in the second half.

At the time the match was abandoned Nenagh VS led by 3-9 to 0-6 and looked well on their way to contesting a final against holders St Brigid’s, Loughrea. O’Meara stressed the wellbeing of the player, who was released from hospital on Monday with reported kidney bruising, is “paramount”. But he is unhappy with the alleged behaviour of Rathdowney officials and supporters.

O’Meara explained: “The referee asked the [mentors] twice to refield their team but their supporters verbally attacked him. I sympathise with the position that Tony Carroll found himself in. I’m sure that he was very conscious of the fact that he was in a very hostile environment.

“The word from Croke Park is that the referee failed to apply the three-minute rule. In the event of a match being abandoned, the ref must to go the captain/mentor of the team that left the field and give them a three-minute warning to refield or abandon the match. Failure to refield sees the match awarded to the opposing team. The word down from Croke Park is that the referee forgot to apply the rule but to say that he got the procedure wrong is incorrect. He was afraid to give that warning — the man was surrounded by approximately 200 people hurling abuse at him.

“And to quote from the referee, he was called a fucking Offaly bollocks.”

O’Meara added: “I feel this is a situation where mob rule took over. Tony Carroll made every effort to try to play this game to a conclusion but he was prevented from doing so by an unruly mob gathered around him.

“There was serious intimidation of the referee on the day and a lot of this was orchestrated. They [Rathdowney] wanted the match to be abandoned, the mob has got their way. Croke Park have not taken any of this into account. They seem to have just gone with a refixture and said that they will launch a probe into the incident. But I’m very annoyed a probe hasn’t been launched into the treatment of the referee.”