Union strips Monivea of promotion

IT’S a story heard countless times a year up and down the country: player plays under an assumed name, opponents smell something fishy, complain and succeed in getting the result overturned.

The sport on this occasion was rugby and the consequences for the team involved could hardly have been more devastating, with Monivea RFC stripped of promotion to the AIB League for the first time in their history.

The game in question was last month’s play-off between the Galway club and Waterpark, with the winner playing Division Three rugby next season and the loser being consigned to the junior ranks.