Athenry appeal to referee

MEMBERS of St Mary's, Athenry, decided last night not to lodge a formal objection against their one-point defeat by St Joesph's, Doora-Barefield, in last Sunday's All-Ireland club hurling semi-final. However, the club appealed to the match officials to acknowledge that a valid score of theirs had been disallowed in the second half.

In a statement, the club said: "The Athenry club is satisfied that a genuine score by Cathal Moran was not allowed which if given would have resulted in a draw. We are convinced that if video evidence was allowed our case would be proven beyond doubt. Without this, we are depending on match officials acknowledging that a genuine mistake occurred."

The referee's report on the match must be submitted to Croke Park before tomorrow.

The club had sent a statement to Croke Park on Thursday stating their case. Croke Park yesterday responded that the Games Administration Committee (GAC) was "not in a position to consider the issue in the absence of a formal objection to the result of the match".

No match result has been overturned by the GAA on the basis of video evidence relating to the validity of scores. It is likely that Athenry's appeal to the match officials last night was made on the basis that video evidence would not even be considered by the GAC.