THE two clubs involved in a highly-publicised brawl last year will not meet at all in Down Division One this season.
RGU Downpatrick and Ballyholland Harps are to be kept apart following the violent scenes at a game between them last year.
Instead, both will carry a four-point deficit into their respective Down Division One campaigns following mediation with the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).
It was the third different proposed team punishment following their brawl last October in a re-arranged league clash held in Kilcoo, but The Irish News understands that it has been accepted by the two clubs.
Down's Competitions Control Committee (CCC) had originally proposed that both clubs should be excluded from the 2019 championship.
Both appealed against that sanction and the county’s hearings committee instead handed down 24-week suspensions to the senior teams of both clubs.
Those, if they had been accepted, would have commenced immediately and would have run until the second week of May. As a result, it meant that the two clubs would have been forced to forfeit up to a third of their 20-game league programme.
Other appeal avenues were open and one of those was the option of DRA mediation involving all relevant parties.
That avenue was explored and at the meeting with the DRA, it was agreed that the scheduled two Division One meetings between the clubs would not be fulfilled this season and both teams would instead only be able to participate in 18 fixtures. The fines and suspensions proposed by the Down Hearings Committee are understood to have been accepted.
While the punishment is certainly lighter than the two previously proposed, it does leave the pair at a disadvantage as the Mourne county prepares for the second stage of its Division One reduction.
Last year 12 teams competed in the top division with two teams dropping out (An Riocht and Saval) to be replaced by just one, Loughinisland. Eleven teams will compete over the coming months but that will drop to 10 teams for the 2020 season.
Downpatrick are under the guidance of former Armagh player John Rafferty and he is one of a number of new managers in Division One this year.
Other fresh faces from outside the county include former Bredagh boss Jody Gormley, who is now with Loughinisland, new Kilcoo manager Mickey Moran, Clonduff’s team of Mark Harte and Adrian O’Donnell, and Silverbridge native Fergal Reel, who will be in charge of Mayobridge.
Six of the 11 clubs have Down management teams in charge with two of those set to start their first season in charge.
Ballyholland pair Damien McCrink and Justin Lynch, a selector under former boss Steven Poacher, are in charge of the Harps while the experienced Pete McGrath will manage home club Rostrevor for the first time.
The only four managers still in situ from last year are Paddy O’Rourke (Burren), Francie McKibben (Bryansford), Niall McAleenan (Warrenpoint), and Mark Doran (Castlewellan).
The Division One season throws in over the next two nights with a number of derby games topping the bill.
The first of those comes tonight as McGrath’s first game in charge of the Reds will see them welcome Warrenpoint to Pettit Park. Elsewhere Ballyholland will have home advantage over Mayobridge while Castlewellan are at home to Bryansford.
There’s another big derby clash tomorrow night as Clonduff host neighbours Kilcoo while Loughinisland make the short trip to Downpatrick.
The uneven number of teams ensures that sides will have bye weeks and it’s current champions Burren who will sit out the first round of action.
