Irish Junior Cup final update: Enniskillen Rangers confirm appeal decision

Enniskillen Rangers have decided to launch an appeal to the IFA Disciplinary Committee after they were booted out of the fonaCAB Craig Stanfield Irish Junior Cup final last week. The four-time champions were stripped of their place in the showpiece decider at Windsor Park after an IFA hearing.

The Fermanagh side had beaten Tummery Athletic 3-1 in the semi-final but the Tyrone club then lodged an appeal on the grounds that Rangers player Jordan McClure was involved with the matchday squad while he was suspended.

McClure played no part in the game but was present at the ground with the Rangers panel for a pre-match photo, which is not disputed by the Fermanagh club. That was no issue in Irish Junior Cup rules but the overarching IFA Disciplinary Code states that a suspension means a player or official is "not permitted to enter the dressing room area, the player’s tunnel, the technical area, the substitute’s bench, the area immediately surrounding the field of play or the playing surface at any match played under the jurisdiction of the Association during the period stipulated in Article 15.9.1.”

Read more: Irish Junior Cup final disarray as four-time winners face IFA hearing over little-known rule

The Junior Cup final is scheduled for Monday May 6, but in previous years, an appeal has led to delays to the biggest game in Northern Ireland junior football. The IFA annually schedule maintenance works for the National Stadium after the regular season concludes.

Rangers' decision to appeal the IFA Hearing decision is their final shot at a resolution through the football authorities.

The next step is to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for sport but that would likely come with huge legal fees and the losing side having to incur those costs.

The rival sides in this dispute, Enniskillen Rangers and Tummery Athletic contested the Fermanagh and Western League's Mulhern Cup semi-final last Thursday night at Ballinamallard. Rangers equalised in the final minute of extra time but were then beaten on penalties.

Michael Kerr's team had not been beaten in 2024 up to then, and are still battling Tummery for the Fermanagh and Western division one title.

The teams are scheduled to meet again on the final day of the regular season on Tuesday, May 21 at The Ball Range in Enniskillen.

There is recent precedent for a delayed Junior Cup final and bizarrely the same two teams were also involved while a player set to feature in this year's final for Cleary Celtic was in the eye of the storm back then for another club.

Enniskillen Rangers won their third Junior Cup title in a row in 2019, beating Tummery in a delayed final at Ferney Park in Ballinamallard.

Rangers were beaten 3-1 in the semi-final by Bessbrook United, with former Irish League striker Declan Monaghan scoring twice for the Armagh side. Monaghan had played for Bessbrook for a number of years up to that stage in the Carnbane League but it transpired that it was the duty of the League to register players with the IFA and when the IFA Junior Cup final came around, Monaghan could not be found in the recently introduced Comet system where team lists are submitted.

Bessbrook fielded Monaghan, knowing that information, and their win was later scrapped on appeal, with Rangers proceeding to the final instead. Lengthy delays for that appeal process meant Windsor Park was no longer an option due for the blue riband final due to maintenance works. That meant Tummery, after weeks of waiting having won their own semi-final, were denied a run out at the National Stadium. Instead, the showpiece decider was played at Ferney Park in Ballinamallard, with Rangers winning 1-0 thanks to a Jason Keenan header.

If Tummery do now play in the 2024 Junior Cup final, they will come up against none other than Declan Monaghan who is now the star striker for another Armagh side Cleary Celtic. They beat Lincoln Courts in the other semi-final last month.

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