Hi °C | Lo °C Tyrone GAA will launch an investigation after violent scenes between players and spectators yesterday at a county football league final.
A mass brawl, which broke out on the field with only two minutes left to play, was followed by violence in the stands at the Tyrone senior league final between Dromore and Carrickmore.
Damian Harvey from the Tyrone County Board has pledged a full investigation.
“We are not happy about what happened and will be carrying out two investigations,” he said.
“We will be looking at player conduct and what happened in the stands. The county's CCC (competitions control committee), which is a sub-committee independent of the county board, will take necessary action after studying the referee's report.”
Several spectators were seen with bloody injuries after the brawl, which is said to have lasted over eight minutes.
One eyewitness said children watched the disturbances on the stands which broke out after skirmishes on the field moved closer to the spectating crowds.
“GAA finals are family events and there were children in the stands who would have seen what went on. It was a disgrace to see that level of violence,” they said.
Carrickmore players Gabriel and Plunkett McCallan, who are brothers, were sent off following the mass brawl on the pitch.
Tyrone GAA county chairman Ciaran McLaughlin added that the involvement of spectators in the disturbances was a “worrying development”.
“When something happens outside the perimeter of the field, and spectators become involved, it is very serious,” he said.
With only two minutes left to play, Dromore clinched victory, completing a championship and league double in Tyrone football.
Similar violent scenes erupted at a 2009 Division One league final between Carrickmore and Errigal Ciaran.
Earlier this season, a referee was seriously assaulted at a ladies match in Tyrone. As a result two men, one of them a member of the Carrickmore management team, received lifetime bans.
There was also serious trouble at a game in Rasharkin, with several club members disciplined after a referee was attacked.
Ray Matthews was taken to hospital after being assaulted at the end of an Antrim Under-21 championship semi-final game in Ballymena last month. Ten people were given various punishments.
