Leitrim yesterday confirmed that they are submitting a request for a refixture of Sunday's Division 2A match against Offaly in Carrick-on-Shannon which they believe was ended prematurely by the referee.
Leitrim were trailing 1-9 to 1-12 when referee Eugene Murtagh whistled full-time.
Mentors on the Leitrim bench were of the immediate opinion that the game had been ended early.
"One of the linesmen informed the referee that full-time wasn't up," said Leitrim PRO Seamus Gallagher yesterday.
"Neither team actually left the field for a number of minutes after the game. The Offaly bench told their lads to remain on the pitch until the referee himself had vacated it," he continued.
Leitrim were challenging Louth for the runner-up spot in their division - Offaly having the top position virtually sewn-up - but Sunday's defeat effectively scuppered their hopes of staying in the promotion race.
Leitrim fully acknowledge that they might well have lost the game even if the allotted time had been played but argue that they have grounds for a replay.
It was surmised by members of the Leitrim board that the official might have mistakenly played a 30-minute second half - the scheduled duration in a league game until last year - and added a couple of minutes injury time. That left a shortfall of two to three minutes to meet the current time of 35 minutes a half, plus whatever injury time applied.
The appeal was sent to Croke Park only yesterday afternoon and Sean O Laoire of the Games Administration Committee was reluctant to predict how events might shape up from here.
"Until I receive the appeal and see exactly what the Leitrim case is, it is impossible to foresee how or when it might be dealt with."
However, O Laoire earlier stressed that the GAC would unconditionally accept the referee's report if he stated that the time he had played had been sufficient.
For the Offaly County Board, it is a case of what goes around comes around. Two summers ago, the county hurling team benefited from a controversial All-Ireland semi-final replay refixture against Clare when it became evident that Galway referee Jimmy Cooney had whistled early.
Such was the magnitude of that game that the official became aware of his error minutes after he had ended the match and acknowledged his mistake in the report.
The GAA rules handbook allow for a number of solutions to the premature ending of a fixture.
If players, officials or supporters from a given club or county are responsible for forcing an early conclusion, then that side is disqualified. The same applies if players or a given team refuse to fulfil or complete the fixture.
However, if the match is ended for any other reason, a full refixture is granted. In the wake of the Offaly-Clare semi-final, this rule was applied in agreeing to Offaly's claims.
This latest controversy over timekeeping highlights the need for an examination of the method of timekeeping employed by the GAA.
