Brennan angered after warring Tipp teams left in the dark

A leading Tipperary GAA official has revealed how he had to use his mobile phone to locate his car in the dark after a mass brawl led to the abandonment of a minor hurling fixture last week.

South Board chairman Joe Brennan was amongst those plunged into darkness when the floodlights went out at the Littleton venue, shortly after a divisional MBHC decider between Ballybacon Grange and Killenaule was halted last Thursday evening.

Match referee Noel Cosgrove blew for full-time with two minutes remaining after a major row broke out, with Ballybacon Grange leading by five points.

The ugly scenes came a fortnight after the South Tipperary Bord na nÓg U16A hurling semi-final between Ballingarry and St Mary’s (Clonmel) was abandoned.

There had been suggestions the floodlights were switched off in an attempt to end the ongoing melee.

But Brennan insisted: “I wouldn’t say so. I hadn’t seen the start of the melee. It was ongoing and I looked over and Noel (Cosgrove) was looking at the sight before him. He made up his mind to blow for full-time.”

Brennan then revealed how “stage by stage”, the lights went out, engulfing the Littleton field in darkness.

He told Tipp FM: “All the lights were turned off and I had to use my own phone to find my own car. I can’t understand the logic of turning off all the lights. Mothers and fathers were coming up and giving out because they were very irate to be separated from children. They couldn’t find them in the dark. There are no street lights in there. Fair enough, there was a melee and the match was abandoned but I honestly feel that the ire of the people was worse over the lights being turned off than the match abandoned.”

Tipperary county board chairman Sean Nugent agreed: “I can’t understand it. I can’t fathom it in the wide earthly world. It’s quite dangerous to do something like that.”

The game was re-fixed for Saturday, with Ballybacon-Grange winning 2-9 to 2-8. But the newly-crowned champions lost their county semi-final to Ballina a day later (1-16 to 0-9)

Meanwhile, the U16 clash between St Mary’s and Ballingarry has yet to be replayed and it has since emerged both clubs were sent letters from Bord na nÓg chiefs before the original fixture, warning them in advance about their conduct. Nugent admitted two recent abandonments, within the same jurisdiction, are “hugely disappointing.”

“I have to point out that in Tipperary, between schools, juvenile and adult games, we play about 4000 games annually. There’s only a problem in 2 or 3% of those games. There might be argy-bargy in some others but nothing too difficult. But one is one too many,” he added.