DRA outcome results in Offaly SFC “B” being delayed by two weeks

THE concluding stages of the Tullamore Court Hotel Senior “B” Football Championship has been delayed by two weeks after a Disputes Resolution Authority ruling on Friday evening that the Offaly GAA regulations had not been in order.

The DRA upheld an appeal from Gracefield over the application of scoring difference rules in the championship.

The ruling had a number of consequences for Offaly GAA and its adult championships. Firstly it meant that Gracefield's quarter-final win against Ballycumber a couple of weeks ago was declared invalid with Gracefield going into the semi-finals as group winners and a new quarter-final between Ballycumber and Clonbullogue having to be arranged – Cappincur, Gracefield and Ballycommon are in the semi-finals.

It also meant that the 2022 scoring difference rules, rather than the 2023 ones, would have applied in the event of three way ties in any of the remaining championships. There was a possibility of that happening with Kilcormac-Killoughey, St Rynagh's and Birr in group 1 of the Senior Hurling Championship on Sunday and the clubs were told that the old rules would have applied – that would have meant that scoring difference would have been totted up from all the games in the group as distinct from the ones involving K-K, St Rynagh's and Birr.

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As things transpired, Kilcormac-Killoughey's win over Birr meant that a three way play off did not emerge and K-K went through as group winners.

The really big spin off, however, and the one that really upsets the plans of clubs and players is that the Senior “B” Championship has now been dragged out for an extra two weeks. The final should have taken place on the weekend of September 23-24 but is now pencilled in for the weekend of October 6-8: The Offaly senior B champions are away to Louth in the Leinster Club IFC on Saturday, October 21 so it doesn't impact on that.

The original semi-finals, Cappincur v Ballycommon and Gracefield v Clonbullogue, had been fixed as part of very attractive double bills with the two senior football semi-finals this weekend but the senior semi-finals, Ferbane v Rhode on Saturday and Tullamore v Edenderry on Sunday, are now standalone fixtures.

The new quarter-final between Clonbullogue and Ballycumber could have been fixed for this weekend but this would have been very unfair on Ballycumber. Once Ballycumber decided that they would play the game, and there was doubts about what their stance would be, it would not have been right to give them a few days to prepare for it as they had stopped training after their defeat by Gracefield.

That quarter-final has now been fixed for Daingean on Sunday, September 17 at 2pm. A new semi-finals draw will take place later that day and they will be played on the weekend of September 22-24, the same one as the senior and intermediate football finals – with the final on October 6-8.

While Gracefield - their chairman is former County Board chairman Tommy Byrne - won their argument that Offaly GAA did not have their house in order and should have changed their regulations after the national rule change about scoring difference, there are no real winners in the whole affair.

Offaly is not the only county to have found trouble over the new scoring difference rules and it has a considerable impact on all clubs in the Senior “B” Football Championship. Clonbullogue now end up playing a quarter-final that they hadn't expected, Ballycumber get a second chance that they didn't seek or deserve and Cappincur have a huge gap from their last group game to their semi-final.

The DRA ruled in favour of Gracefield GAA club who argued that they should have finished in first position of their SFC “B” group and not in third place according to Offaly's championship regulations – the rule relating to scoring difference had been changed at Congress earlier this year.

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The change meant that the scoring difference was only counted from the games involving the three teams who tied in group 2, Gracefield, Clonbullogue and Ballycommon in this case. Under the old rules where scoring difference was counted from all games, Gracefield would have been top and directly in the semi-finals. The new rules, however, meant that Clonbullogue were top and Gracefield third, with Ballycommon second.

Gracefield argued that the Offaly GAA championship regulations were not changed to meet the new rules and appealed to Leinster Council, where they lost. They then took their case to the DRA and tried to get the original quarter-finals postponed. The DRA ruled that they could go ahead as Gracefield had not met the criteria for interim relief but they stated that they were still entitled to a full hearing of their case.

Gracefield grinded out a hard earned win over Ballycumber in the quarter-finals last Saturday week – Ballycommon beat Walsh Island in the other quarter-final but that pairing would have been the same no matter what scoring difference rules were used. Despite qualifying for the semi-finals, Gracefield pursued a full hearing with the DRA and won that case on Friday evening. The County Board received verbal notification of the DRA decision on Friday night and it could be some time before they receive a full written ruling.

There was a strong case for moving this weekend's Intermediate Football Championship semi-finals to O'Connor Park double bills on Saturday and Sunday but having told Ballinagar (St Brigid's v Erin Rovers on Saturday) and Raheen (Daingean v Tullamore in Geashill on Sunday) that they would be hosting those games, the County Board have decided to honour that commitment.

The Offaly GAA Competitions Control Committee have also released their roadmap for the concluding stages of the adult hurling championships.

The Intermediate Hurling Championship final between Carrig-Riverstown and Coolderry is in O'Connor Park on Saturday, September 16 with the Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final between St Rynagh's and Coolderry at 3pm and 5pm. The SHC relegation play off between Kinnitty and Seir Kieran is in Birr that day at 3.15pm with the Senior “B” Hurling Championship semi-final between Kilcormac-Killoughey and Lusmagh at 5.00pm.

There is also a big double bill in O'Connor Park on Sunday, September 17 with the Senior Hurling Championship semi-final between Birr and Shinrone at 4pm, preceded by the Senior “B” Hurling Championship semi-final with Birr and Clodiagh Gaels at 2pm. The senior “B” hurling relegation play off between Shamrocks and Clara is that Sunday in Ballinamere at 12 noon.

The fixtures for the senior hurling semi-finals and senior “B” final have not been released yet but will be on the weekend of September 30/October 1 with the senior hurling final on Sunday, October 15 in Birr.