Irish Cup sixth round: Warrenpoint Town 1 Ballymena United 2
THE PSNI are investigating after a brawl marred the latter stages of Saturday’s Irish Cup clash between Warrenpoint and Ballymena at Milltown.
Players – including Warrenpoint goalkeeper Mark Byrne – spectators and stewards were all involved in a melee which saw the fence surrounding the pitch collapse and fans spill onto the field of play.
The injury-time trouble followed Andy McGrory’s winning goal for the visitors and it is understood referee Shane Andrews showed home ’keeper Byrne a red card after he blew the final whistle.
The PSNI said they had received a report of an assault in the aftermath of Saturday’s game, which came just 24 hours after the Northern Ireland Football League issued a statement highlighting “unacceptable spectator behaviour” at games.
After the incident, manager Barry Gray insisted Warrenpoint was both “a family-orientated and a safe club”.
"Today we are hoping that this unique situation can be resolved and if there is punishment to be handed out then it is done accordingly,” Gray added.
"Hopefully, we will never see scenes like this again and this is a stark lesson for everyone involved that there is no place in football for this.”
Ballymena manager David Jeffrey said he wasn’t sure why or how the trouble started.
"My only concern was my own players and I wanted them to make sure that they were safe, get things calmed down and very quickly that happened," Jeffrey said.
Brandon Doyle had given Warrenpoint the lead in the game shortly after half-time before Kyle Owens equalised with a header and McGrory scored the late winner. Ballymena will now travel to Fermanagh to play Ballinamallard in the quarter-finals.
