THE CONNACHT COUNCIL are set to open an investigation into the disgraceful scenes which marred the end of yesterday’s club senior football championship final in Kiltoom.
St Brigid’s Roscommon captured back-to-back provincial titles after holding off a resurgent Corofin to win by a single point, 0-11 to 0-10.
But the post-match celebrations were overshadowed as match referee Liam Devanney and his umpires were confronted by a crowd of angry Corofin supporters and had to be escorted from the pitch.
Reports indicated that the referee and his officials may have been struck during the melee and the provincial council are expected to investigate the matter once they have received Devanney’s match report.
Tempers flared towards the end of the first half when Corofin’s Mike Farragher saw his goal chalked off for a square ball infraction, despite video replays suggesting that the call was borderline.
And while manager Brian Silke conceded that he would’ve liked to see the referee consult his umpires before ruling the goal out, he told RTÉ’s John Kenny that he couldn’t condone any violence after the final whistle.
“If that’s what happened, I cannot encourage anyone,” Silke said.
“Referee’s have got to do their job. They have to be respected, it’s all about respect. If there was any incidents, I’d be disappointed with that.
We do our best but we have to behave ourselves, so if there’s any incident, I’d be disappointed. That’s all I have to say.
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