Kildare to take appeal to Disputes Resolution Authority

The Kildare County Board will take their case to the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) after they had their appeal against the Leinster Council's decision to award Offaly a win in the Leinster SFC quarter-final turned down by the GAA's Central Appeals Committee (CAC) last night.

The Lilywhites' bid to have the result of last month's quarter-final overturned, have the game replayed and/or have Offaly thrown out of the Leinster championship seems to be a losing one.

Offaly won the clash outright by 3-09 to 0-15 but were immediately questioned after the final whistle about their apparent use of six substitutes rather than the allowed five.

The row, which has rumbled on since May 28, centres over Offaly full-forward Pascal Kellaghan, who was forced off in the first half, with James Coughlan replacing him under the blood substitution ruling.

However, when Kellaghan came back on for the second half, he took the place of Trevor Phelan and not Coughlan. With that counting as two substitutions in many observers' eyes, Offaly brought a further four players off their bench, plunging their victory into some doubt.

But the Leinster Council's Games Administration Committee subsequently agreed with Tyrone referee Michael Hughes and they endorsed his match report, surmising that Offaly had not broken the rules.

The CAC also failed to find anything in the rule book to put Offaly in hot water, so Kildare's last hope rests with the DRA.

The Leinster SFC semi-final between Offaly and Wexford was postponed earlier this week from June 18 to 25. The game will be part of a double header at Croke Park in two-and-a-half weeks' time, alongside the meeting of Dublin and Laois.