LAST night's county board meeting in Laois imposed fines on the Stradbally and Portarlington clubs and suspended them from League competition for what is in effect three seasons.
The action follows the clubs' encounter last Sunday week in what was the final of the 1994 League. A minute into the second half, a fracas broke out involving some players and a mentor from Portarlington.
The clubs were fined £500 each and suspended from the 1995 League, the semi finals of which both had reached, and the 1996 League, which commences this spring. The final which featured the incidents will not be replayed and the competition is abandoned.
In addition to the fines, a number of suspensions were handed out to those involved. Brendan Delaney, the Stradbally goalkeeper, received three months for striking, and Portarlington official Ciaran Leavey was suspended for 12 months for taking the field and getting involved.
Three other players were warned as to future conduct Tony Maher of Stradbally and the Portarlington pair, Tommy Smith and Pat Galvin.
Having considered the referee's report, last night's meeting in Portlaoise found that both clubs had brought the GAA into disrepute. Representatives of Stradbally and Portarlington apologised for what had happened to their supporters, the county board and the referee.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)