Enniskillen Rangers has been reinstated in the Irish Junior Cup Final after the IFA Appeals Committee upheld Rangers’ appeal by a unanimous decision.
The hearing took place yesterday (Tuesday) and comes off the back of an earlier decision by the IFA Disciplinary Committee on April 25 which resulted in a £350 fine on Rangers and the forfeiture of the Irish Junior Cup semi-final to Tummery Athletic, following a breach of Article 22.1 (outlined below).
“If any player participates in a match whilst being suspended or if any player breaches the terms of his suspension his club will be sanctioned with a minimum fine of £600 (imposed on Senior teams), £450 (imposed on Intermediate teams) and £350 (imposed on Junior teams). Additionally, the Club will forfeit the match by the score 3-0. If the goal difference at the end of the match is greater than three in favour of the club who is not to forfeit the match, the result on the pitch is upheld.”
Enniskillen Rangers manager, Michael Kerr, said;
“We’re delighted with the decision. We feel that eventually the right outcome has came from the whole ordeal.
“There’s no doubt about it, the last couple of weeks has been mentally draining from a management point of view and trying to keep focused on the players and the football side of things – it’s been difficult to say the least, but we’ve got through it and the boys have worked hard.
“We’re now back in the Junior Cup Final that we deserved.
“I’m delighted for the players and the club and supporters, especially our youth who now get a chance to see the first team in a major cup final which will leave them with memories they’ll have forever.”
The initial protest by Tummery Athletic arose on March 27 when Rangers and Tummery played in the Cup semi-final at Ferney Park.
At this match, Enniskillen Rangers player Jordan McClure had a kick about on the pitch before the game and during the appeal proceedings he admitted his ‘error of judgement’. Rangers won that semi-final 3-1 but their place in the final has been up in the air since March 27.
There were many elements considered by the Appeals Committee but the decision was taken to reinstate Enniskillen Rangers in the Junior Cup and that they should proceed to the final.
The £350 fine stands for Enniskillen Rangers’ following their breach of Article 22.1.
Rangers’ boss Kerr, while obviously delighted with the news, says his sole focus is on this weekend’s Mercer League game against Kesh;
“It’s absolutely massive for us” says Kerr, as the league leaders bid to extend their lead at the top with Ryan Campbell’s side hot on their heels.
With a league and cup double a realistic notion again, Kerr is not looking beyond this weekend;
“There’s an opportunity to win two trophies in front of us but we’ve won nothing. You’re two games away from losing the league and losing the cup. Close but yet so far as the saying goes, so we’ll look no further than Kesh in the league on Saturday and that’s our main objective in the short term.”
Mercer League
| TEAM | PLD | W | D | L | + | – | +/- | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enniskillen Rangers | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 73 | 26 | 47 | 51 |
| NFC Kesh | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 64 | 27 | 37 | 47 |
| Tummery Athletic | 20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 54 | 24 | 30 | 43 |
| Enniskillen Town United | 23 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 53 | 49 | 4 | 39 |
| Killen Rangers | 23 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 45 | 37 | 8 | 38 |
| Lisbellaw United | 21 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 47 | 36 | 11 | 37 |
| Dergview Reserves | 23 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 54 | 45 | 9 | 31 |
| Strathroy Harps | 23 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 40 | 51 | -11 | 29 |
| Beragh Swifts | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 47 | 51 | -4 | 26 |
| Irvinestown Wanderers | 24 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 40 | 56 | -16 | 25 |
| Enniskillen Athletic | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 28 | 89 | -61 | 17 |
| Magheraveely | 23 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 36 | 45 | -9 | 16 |
| Castlederg United | 23 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 29 | 74 | -45 | 12 |
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