Antrim devastated by brawl

Antrim's county executive is coming to terms with the violent brawl which marked the end of Sunday's county football final at Casement Park. The match was won by defending champions Cargin, who defeated St Paul's by 0-9 to 0-5. A confrontation at the end of the game sparked the brawl, which continued until the full-time whistle.

"The executive is devastated," said county treasurer Eamonn Grieve. "The double bill (the hurling final was also played) made for a very good day as far as we were concerned, but what happened puts our games at a very low ebb. "The animosity that this creates between clubs and county board, and within the county board, sets everything back after the great summer the county had in the championship."

The brawl was exacerbated by the intrusion of a number of supporters onto the field, where some were seen to hit players. The embarrassment to county officers was heightened by the presence of television cameras. Danny Murphy, president of the Ulster Council, was also in attendance. The match was preceded by a heavy downpour and the quality of the football was poor, but there had been no outbreaks of violence prior to the scenes at the end. There will be a meeting of the county board this week to consider the next move, but an investigation is certain to be launched into Sunday's events. Referee Raymond Doone's report has yet to be received but it will be only one of the items of evidence taken into account by the authorities.

"There were enough members of the executive present," said Grieve, "so the referee's report will form a lesser part of the overall evidence than is usually the case. Because it was a county final and because of the video evidence which we have, there is no way anything will go unpunished."

Cargin are due to play Derry champions Bellaghy in two weeks time, and it remains to be seen if that fixture will be affected by the outcome of the investigation.