Derrytresk carry on till further notice

DERRYTRESK JOINT-MANAGER Paul Hughes says his players will not be disrupted by the controversy surrounding their All-Ireland junior club football semi-final defeat of Dromid-Pearses in Portlaoise last weekend but he accepts there will be consequences for what happened.

The Tyrone champions were convincing winners of the match but in the days since there has been a torrent of criticism of the indiscipline that took place on the field, which saw two Dromid players sent off and a serious melee before half-time involving the Derrytresk substitutes, who jumped the fence to take part.

Recriminations have so far been one-way, as Derrytresk declined to respond, beyond a statement issued on Monday, to the charges and allegations in the national media from members and supporters of the Kerry club, and others.

“We’re a small club,” said Hughes, speaking to this newspaper yesterday. “We’re delighted to have got there. There’s maybe a wee bit left over of a bad taste in that we felt we were working through GAA channels that other people aren’t but it isn’t something impinging on the overall mood of looking forward to the final. We’ll keep the mood upbeat because we don’t want all of this to become a distraction.”

He denied he was critical of Dromid for raising their criticisms in public.

“That’s entirely anybody’s choice. We can only focus on ourselves and that’s what we’ve been trying to do because regardless of what anyone does or says, the process is here and has to be given time. Nothing anybody says or does or chooses to do – as is their choice – will speed up those processes. We have to await the outcome.

“We’ll have to accept – I’ve been saying to the boys all year if you’re late for training there’s a sanction, if you miss a session there’s a sanction – so if the process comes up with a sanction we’ll have to accept that if we’re found to have done wrong.”

Does he believe that his players did wrong?

“I’m not going to second guess the referee’s report and if the investigation says that we’ve done wrong then we’ve done wrong and we’ll have to take whatever sanction comes with that.

“There’s no use in trying to hide your head in the sand and say ‘we’re not guilty, we’re not guilty’ because that’s foolish.”

The fracas before half-time developed when the club’s substitutes collectively jumped on to the pitch to get involved in an altercation.

Did this loss of discipline not make Hughes anxious about the potential consequences for his team?

“Absolutely. There will be implications there. We appreciate that, of course. Because of the emotive nature of the situation, those things turn on a split-second thing and you’ve very little time to do anything about them other than to try and calm the situation, which I think you’ll find a big percentage of the people were doing, or trying to do after the initial emotive outburst.

“In trying to calm a situation there is an implication that there’s more and more people involved in it. Studying the video will be the important thing.”

The possible consequences for the club are severe, ranging for suspensions for those deemed to have broken rules to hefty fines, which aren’t as easily discharged by small clubs as by counties, and even disqualification if the misbehaviour is considered sufficiently serious.

Hughes says the players in general haven’t been as affected by the controversy, as they are young (six under-21 and a further seven under the age of 25) and aren’t as exposed to the media coverage but he feels it has cast a pall for others.

“For the people of the area; it’s a very small area, a rural parish with four football clubs and a hurling club.

“We have never done anything in the context of success. We won a junior championship way back in 1955 we were in a Tyrone senior championship final in 1949; we won a couple of junior leagues but we have never got to anything like this.

“I feel sorry for the older people who remember 1955 and who are looking on this as justification for everything they did in establishing, maintaining and working hard to keep the club. But when it comes there’s a negative to it. We’ve been through negatives before, as every GAA club has, but as long as we remain within the processes we’ll cope with it.”

The Central Competitions Control Committee met yesterday to consider the evidence, including two videos of the incidents that took place on Sunday. No decision is expected in the immediate future, as the investigation will take time to conclude.

Meanwhile, Dr Crokes in Killarney yesterday released a statement, denying they had looked for “segregation of supporters” at next month’s All-Ireland football club semi-final against champions Crossmaglen Rangers.

“What the club has requested,” according to the statement, “is an allotment of tickets in a particular section of the stand where juvenile members and their families can sit together, as many families had requested this after our Munster final win.

“ . . . we believe that there will be a large attendance at the game in Portlaoise and hence our reason for looking for an area where these can be accommodated together.

“All other interpretation of the clubs requests are a misinterpretation of the facts and the club is in no way calling for segregation of supporters.

“We have also requested that there be adequate stewarding on the day, in particular on the area in front of where the subs are seated, to avoid any potential repeat of last Sunday.”