Garda College thrown out of Sigerson Cup

Today's Sigerson Cup quarter-final between Garda College and Cork IT has had to be cancelled after the Garda were expelled from the competition for fielding an ineligible player.

Carlow IT, who will host the final stages of the third-level football competition on March 7 and 8, successfully objected to the eligibility of Westmeath player Graham Dillon.

Dillon was right wing back in the Garda team that beat Carlow IT 1-11 to 0-12 in the third round on February 13.

At Monday's specially arranged meeting of the Higher Education Authority, Carlow IT were awarded the game but the eligibility row looks set to go on.

The dispute centres over a competition ruling on Garda players, who are only eligible to play in the Sigerson Cup for two years whilst in training at the college's Templemore base.

With the Garda College taking in students in various blocks throughout the year, the rule is evidently complicated.

Dillon has played in both the 2007 and 2008 Sigerson Cup competitions, but it has been reported that he was enrolled with Garda College the year before as well.

Garda College have three days to launch an appeal. If they do not, Carlow IT will advance to play Cork IT in the last-eight.

It would be a massive blow to the Garda should their appeal fail.

They have the likes of Kerry's Aidan O'Mahony, Westmeath's Denis Glennon and Cork target man Michael Cussen on board this year and were chasing their first ever Sigerson Cup title.