Former Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh links up with Down footballers

DOWN-BOUND: Former Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Former Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh has joined Conor Laverty’s Down backroom team.

The Tyrone native links up with the Division 3 side who this past season were assisted by Jim McGuinness who has since returned to the Donegal manager’s position.

Just as Derry confirmed former star Enda Muldoon will remain in their management team helping Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin, Meenagh links up with Martin Clarke, Mickey Donnelly and Declan Morgan.

In Derry, another former inter-county player, Loup man Paul McFlynn, comes on board with Muldoon, Murtagh O’Brien and strength and conditioning coach Matt Godfrey.

Meanwhile, another score difference controversy has emanated, this time in Galway’s senior football championship where the first of a number of appeals against the old criteria has been rejected by the Connacht Council.

St Michael’s are said to be considering their options after they unsuccessfully contested finishing last in Group 3 having been finished on three points as did Tuam Stars and Dunmore MacHales above them.

St Michael’s argued the new score difference rule should have applied, as it did in the Galway senior hurling championship. The new rule restricts score difference to the games between the three or more teams finishing on the same number of points whereas the old rule applies to all games in the group.

Were the new score difference criteria in operation, St Michael’s would have finished in third place and a preliminary quarter-final instead of fifth, leapfrogging Tuam Stars and Dunmore MacHales, and avoiding the possibility of relegation.

As Galway’s football championship match regulations were issued with the old rule before Congress in February of this year when the new rule was adopted (the county’s hurling match regulations were released with the new rule post Congress), county board chiefs will be emboldened by the Connacht Council’s tacit endorsement of their actions.

However, ahead of quarter-finals this weekend, Caherlistrane and Oughterard were also due to have their cases heard by the province. Level on four points with Bearna in Group 2, they finished behind Bearna based on score difference across their five group games.

Had the new rule applied and only the games between the three clubs counted, Oughterard would be third followed by Caherlistrane in fourth and Bearna fifth. However, Bearna’s preliminary quarter-final against Tuam Stars went ahead on Tuesday evening having originally been scheduled 24 hours earlier.

In correspondence to clubs last month, Galway secretary Seamus O’Grady apologised for “the confusion and any inconvenience caused” after it was originally stated the new score difference criteria would apply.

An email, referring to Offaly club Gracefield’s successful DRA hearing, read: “We have received advice as to whether Rule 6.21 (2022) or 6.21 (2023) should be used if teams finish level on points in the group stages of this year’s championship. There was also a DRA case in another county involving this matter last weekend.

“The advice is and DRA ruling support it, is that if Rule 6.21 (5) (2022) was included in the 2023 county match regulations then that is the rule to be applied… not the 2023 version of the rule.”