Donegal GAA champions St. Eunan's bow out with heads held high in 16th man storm

St. Eunan’s Letterkenny have decided against defending their county title in the boardroom - even though they believe they would have had a strong case.

The reigning champions today revealed that they won’t be appealing the result of their recent Championship encounter with Termon.

Termon, who reached this year’s All-Ireland Comórtas Peile Na Gaeltachta Senior Final, had 16 men on the pitch when they hit the winning score in the preliminary quarter-final in what was a huge upset victory for one of Donegal’s smallest clubs.

They ended up edging out St. Eunan’s on a 1-16 to 0-18 scoreline after extra-time at the Donegal GAA Centre of Excellence in Convoy.

But their final score, from substitute Enda McCormick, came with the man he was supposed to replace, still on the field and inside the St. Eunan’s arc when the point arrived.

St. Eunan’s hit out at the communication between match officials, but say that in the interests of the integrity of the competition and to avoid disruption they won’t be objecting to the result.

The Letterkenny side, record 16 time champions, released a statement today outlining the outcome of an Executive Committee meeting in the club.

"The club believes it has a strong case under the rules, given that the winning score resulted directly from a 16th player, while the player being replaced was directly involved in engaging our defenders at the time.

“St Eunan’s players consulted the match referee at the time and asked him to consult with the linesmen and fourth official, which he declined to do.

"On this basis, had an appeal been lodged, we are confident that a replay would likely have been granted.

“However, St Eunan’s is equally mindful of the principles of sporting integrity and the fact that the incident was not the result of any deliberate act on Termon’s behalf.

“Our disappointment lies with how the situation was handled by the match officials.

"The game should not have been allowed to restart until the Termon player being substituted had fully exited the field of play.

“It was not Termon’s fault. Nor was it ours, and we strongly believe that standards of communication and officiating must improve to prevent such incidents in future.

"Ultimately, while we remain convinced that our case had merit, the Executive Committee has decided that pursuing the matter through appeal is not in the best interests of the competition.

“An appeal would cause disruption to the Championship and risk undermining its integrity.

"For these reasons, St Eunan’s will not be taking the matter further and wish Termon the very best in the remainder of the championship."