GAA |Westerns could appeal Louth GAA’s decision to award St Nicholas Division 3B title

In a controversial development in the Wee County’s race for honours in Gaelic football’s Division 3B campaign, Reaghstown outfit Westerns are believed to be ready to appeal the call made by Louth GAA to award the title to St Nicholas.

Westerns were in the driving seat for silverware before a goal for St Nicholas in the dying embers of their derby clash with Wolfe Tones won them the three points they needed to bring their haul for the campaign up to 25, securing them top billing the process.

A glance at the Louth GAA official website shows that Westerns are currently sitting on 24 points, however, they are ready to contest that figure. According to them, the tussle they won with Naomh Malachi on June 19 was worth three points instead of two, however, the county board disagree.

If Westerns’ proposed appeal is successful and they have three points rewarded, then they would replace St Nicholas at the division’s summit due to their superior head-to-head record. A move of that nature would have ramifications down the division and for local sports betting sites, many of who have already paid out on winning wagers for the competition.

Here is where the confusion lies. Back on the 3rd of May, Westerns’ match against Naomh Malachi was abandoned after a serious injury to a Malachi player. According to the CCC, the teams agreed to rearrange the fixture for June 19, while a venue change from Western’s Reaghstown to Malachi’s Courtbane was also settled upon.

However, Westerns believe that the June 19 match-up was worth three points to the victor with a second skirmish between the sides, scheduled for six days later, viewed as the actual re-arranged tie, which was worth two points to the winner.

Once the dust settled after both games, Western made contact with the CCC to discuss what had happened and they were initially awarded the extra point, however, that was later withdrawn by the board.

The drama continued when the final Division 3B standings were published however, when Naomh Malachi highlighted that their points haul also wasn’t correct and that they were denied the extra point they were due following a win over Sean McDermotts.

In a letter to the governing board, Naomh Malachi then provided corroborative backing to Westerns’ claims about the teams’ fixture on June 19th.

There was another bend in the road to come when it transpired that the CCC had only awarded extra points to the teams that won matches in rounds 12, 13 or 14, going against their own competition regulations. The CCC had told clubs that the final four fixtures played would be worth three points for the winning outfit, yet, when the time came, they failed to apply the correct additions.

When the issue was brought to the CCC’s attention, they made amendments and published an updated table which showed Nicks on 26 points and Malachi’s on an increased 21. However, Westerns remained on 24 points, triggering a fresh controversy.

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