Official hits out after draw between relegation rivals

The PRO of Drumlane Sons of O'Connell has expressed his disappointment at the outcome of the league after his club's senior team were relegated. While Drumlane were beaten by Killeshandra (who were also relegated) last weekend in the final round of the league, a draw between Killygarry and Cuchulainns was sufficient to secure both of those teams' Division 1 status, regardless of the Drumlane result. Meanwhile, Lacken, who were also in relegation trouble, defeated a weakened Castlerahan team by 20 points. Had Drumlane beaten Killeshandra, they would still have been relegated thanks to the draw between Cuchulainns and Killygarry, who both finished on 11 points but with a superior score difference to Drumlane, who finished on nine points. However, either Cuchulainns and Killygarry could have been relegated had they lost and Drumlane won, while a draw was sufficient to keep both up in any event. The Cuchulainns match, which was played at the same time, proved academic as Drumlane lost their match. "I went to the Killygarry-Cuchulainns match and it didn't look like a full-blooded affair to me," said PRO Brian Seagrave. "It has been a fantastic league, with 15 rounds, and I'm disappointed that it finished in this way." Seagrave, a well-known official who is also chairman of Bord na nOg, stated that had Drumlane won, the other results could have been crucial. "Drumlane were beaten but the other two clubs got the draw they both needed," he said. Killygarry secretary Noel McHugh, however, refuted any suggestion that the teams played for a draw. "There's no question about the result... It was only with three or four minutes to go [that a draw appeared likely]. The teams were even, nobody wanted to risk anything. Players know what's at stake," he said. "It was done and dusted without us, I'm not great on the permutations myself which shows how good I'd be at rigging things! But the result in Killeshandra meant that it wouldn't have made any difference anyway. "It would be very hard to rig a 1-9 apiece scoreline. Cuchulainns were four points up at one stage so it wasn't as if it was tit for tat." Cuchulainns PRO Paul Taite stated that, infact, Cuchulainns had to battle to earn a draw in the match. "I wasn't at the game, I know it was a draw, 1-9 each, Killygarry got a goal in the second half that got them two points up," he said. "It wasn't pre-arranged, definitely not. My brother was playing and he said Cuchulainns had the upper hand and seemed to be going well, then Cathal Keaney, who is a cousin of ours, came on and got a goal and Killygarry went ahead and Cuchulainns had a bit to do to get back and get level and that's the way it ended. "Killygarry nearly scored a second goal, again I wasn't at it but I heard that Mark Clarke, our goalkeeper, made a really good save." The official fixture list issued by the county board last week stressed that no re-scheduling of fixtures was permitted for the final round. With a county final in two weeks' time, Castlerahan fielded an understrength side against Lacken, who won by 1-21 to 0-4, in Crowe Park. That win moved Lacken on to 13 points although they would have been safe even if they had lost, unless they were beaten heavily and Drumlane or Killeshandra won by a huge margin. "A couple of our main guys had niggly injuries and there was no way that on a wet day that we were going to take a risk with them with the county final coming up," explained acting Castlerahan secretary Ronan Coleman. While none of the starting 15 from the county senior semi-final against Belturbet played against Lacken, Coleman pointed out that there were "seven or eight guys who are very close to the team" playing.