Wexford GAA to join gardaí in investigation of brawl after senior football final

The SFC final between Castletown and Shelmaliers finished in ugly scenes

Scuffles break out on the pitch at full time. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Clohessy

WEXFORD GAA will launch an investigation into the disgraceful scenes involving players and supporters at the end of Sunday's county senior football final.

During the course of the brawl a teenager was among those injured, while it's also alleged that a supporter received a broken nose, as gardaí and stewards tried to separate players and supporters from both sides.

Gardai are carrying out a full investigation into the ugly incident which marred the county final that saw Castletown retain their title with a 0-14 to 1-7 victory over Shelmaliers in a game they totally dominated.

These clubs have plenty of recent history, with this being their third final meeting in the last four years. So it was perhaps no surprise that tensions rose on several occasions during the course of the game. That ultimately resulted in an unsavoury scene at the end, with both sets of players joined by supporters who entered the playing area, also becoming involved in several melees.

Gardai break up fights on the pitch after the match. Pic: Dan Clohessy, Inpho

Wexford GAA are awaiting the report of referee Thomas Furlong before deciding on a course of action.

What should have been a carnival weekend for Wexford football got off to the worst possible start on Saturday afternoon, when former inter-county player, Ciaran Lyng, was deprived of the honour of playing for his club St. Martin's in the county Junior 'B' final which they lost to Castletown, 3-6 to 0-8.

Lyng, one of Wexford's finest forwards during his career, had assisted the side, captained by his brother, Micheál, through the campaign, having transferred back to his native club, St. Martin's, from Carnew, after one year with the Wicklow club in the senior club football championship.

But in the hours leading up to the final, there was a dramatic twist, when Wexford CCCC met on Friday night to discuss a by-law which had been brought to their attention, which specifies that in the initial year of a transfer, a player can only regrade one grade. This made the star attacker ineligible to play Junior 'B', as ruled upon by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC), despite the appeal of the club who attended the late hearing.

Late on in the game, St. Martin's had two players red-carded while they decided to leave the pitch and return to the dressing room prior to the presentation ceremony.

It was not all doom and gloom for St. Martin's as later on Saturday afternoon they won the intermediate football title with a 1-11 to 0-7 victory over Ballyhogue, adding to their senior hurling title of six days earlier, with veteran former inter-county player, 38-year-old Daithi Waters, named Man of the Match