GAA committee to discuss Dromid-Derrytresk brawl

The GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee will today begin their investigation into the violent scenes which marred last Sunday's All-Ireland JFC semi-final between Dromid Pearses and Derrytresk.

The CCCC officials are due to meet to review the official report of Leitrim referee Francis Flynn, who was on duty for the Portlaoise clash, and also analyse two videos of the game.

Both clubs have issued public statements regarding the much-debated brawl which erupted before half-time at O'Moore Park.

The statement issued on Wednesday by Dromid, who lost 1-10 to 0-7 and had two players sent-off, read: "It is now in the hands of the officials of Croke Park and in the hands of the CCCC.

"We are issuing this statement in order to prevent any further confusion on the matter and hope this will clarify matters for all concerned, we also trust that a review of the footage of last weekend's game will speak for itself.

"In light of the game that occurred on Sunday last in Portlaoise, we felt that the issue of violence and public scenes of disturbance at GAA fixtures needed to be highlighted and acted upon in an official capacity.

"This incident has left us, our team, management and club as a whole feeling quite disturbed having enjoyed our run throughout this fantastic competition to date, and we are saddened that it culminated in the events of last Sunday.

"However, the fact that so many people were placed in danger cannot be left unnoticed."

It added: "Failure to highlight issues such as this to us is no longer an option, Piarsaigh na Dromoda's management and players have put their hearts and souls into this competition and stand by the fact that we believe that last Sunday's game should have been called off immediately after the incident that occurred on the pitch, that saw many individuals enter the field and partake in the melee that occurred.

"To clarify our stance on the issue, we feel that the events of last Sunday should never have occurred and that it has highlighted issues that need to be examined from a health and safety point of view as well as the ramifications that it has on the GAA as an entity.

"However, the players, management and supporters of Cumann Peile Piarsaigh na Dromoda are all united in the knowledge that the CCCC will deal with this and assign appropriate punishment to those who instigated events."

As Derrytresk hail from Tyrone and CCCC chairman Seamus Woods is from the same county, he will step aside for the hearing to avoid a conflict of interest. Vice-chairman Tommy Kilcoyne from Sligo will head up the meeting instead.