GAA:Meath will go into the All-Ireland quarter-finals as Leinster champions after Louth announced the county will accept the result of Sunday's highly contentious final. In a lengthy statement released this evening, the Louth county board confirmed they will be taking "no further action" on the matter.
After the Meath board rejected calls for a replay yesterday, it had been thought Louth would be prepared to take their case to the Disputes Resolution Authority.
However, while admitting there was an enormous “sense of injustice” at the manner of Meath’s win at Croke Park, Louth insisted they had never considered going down the legal route.
Instead, Peter Fitzpatrick’s side will now attempt to put the controversy behind them and concentrate on their All-Ireland qualifier campaign.
Meath won Sunday's game by two points with a stoppage time goal from Joe Sheridan that clearly should have been disallowed. Referee Martin Sludden has since admitted that he made a mistake in allowing the score.
Full statement from the Louth county board
“In relation to incidents which occurred during and after the Leinster Final on Sunday, July 11th the Executive Committee of the Louth county board have met on a number of occasions to discuss the events of the day and correspondence pertaining to same.
" 1Goalmouth incident at the end of match: The referee has indicated in his report that he blew the whistle for a penalty, but then changed his mind and awarded a goal instead, which is contrary to playing rules. We also fail to understand why the referee did not consult with both umpires in relation to the goal being awarded, which is also contrary to guidance given to referees in such contraversal circumstances. In the light of this and the clear admission in the referees report that he "made a terrible mistake," the referees report therefore is questionable.
" 2Rule 6.41 Award / facts of game: The award of the game rests with the committee / council in charge acting on the referees report.
"We would contend that that the committee / council in charge erred in leaving the matter to Meath county board to offer a replay, without seeking clarification from the referee in relation to his match report and his statement “he made a terrible mistake”.
“Despite the fact that there are several avenues open to us to question the result we believe we have a responsibility to our members and supporters alike to display leadership on this issue and to move forward to the qualifiers. At no stage (contrary to media reports) did we have a legal representative present at any of our deliberations and we would also like to state that at no stage did we consider legal proceedings on the matter.
“The sense of injustice which is being felt in Louth GAA is enormous. However, the executive committee of the Louth county board, the senior team management and players have decided to take no further action regarding the outcome of the Leinster football championship final.
“On behalf of Louth GAA we would take this opportunity to congratulate our players and team management on a magnificent performance on Sunday, and wish them every success in the remainder of the championship. We would also take this opportunity to thank our loyal supporters who turned out in their thousands to cheer our team on, and we would encourage them to continue with their loyal support in the remainder of the championship.
“We have already condemned the disgraceful scenes which occurred post match and we would reiterate that there is no place for those individuals within our organisation.
“We wish the Meath players and management every success in their campaign.
“Louth have had over the years a long and proud history of promoting the best interests of the GAA and will continue to strive to do so on and off the field of play.
“Finally, in light of the tragic events which occurred in Donegal over the weekend we realise that we must put our situation in context and we would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of those deceased.”