Heartbreak for Under-17 boys

Administrative error costs team place in shield decider

A PROMISING young group from Wexford F.C. have been denied a place in an All-Ireland shield final due to an administrative error.

There was initial joy for the Ferrycarrig Park club’s Under-17 team on Saturday week when they made the long journey to Lissywollen and defeated home side Athlone Town 2-1 after extra-time.

While they fell behind to a goal from a penalty, Gorey duo Caellum Travers-Devlin and Darragh Levingston hit the back of the net to set them up for an eagerly-awaited final clash at home to Cork City.

However, their joy quickly turned to heartbreak and devastation when it emerged that Wexford had fielded two players who were under suspension.

The information was conveyed to a club official in an e-mail from the FAI, but it wasn’t passed on to the backroom staff who were unaware that they had breached the rules until after the event.

Team manager Billy Molloy from Gorey was out of the country for the game, with the squad looked after in his absence on the day by one of his assistant coaches, Jason Goodison.

‘On behalf of the management staff of Wexford F.C’s Under-17 team, I would like to reiterate how truly sorry everyone at the club is, and once again I would like to offer a sincere apology to each of our 20 players and their parents,’ Goodison said.

‘The players deserved so much more than for their season to end in this way, especially after how they have performed in the last number of games.

‘The win against Athlone would have been our fifth in seven games, all of which have come against some of the country’s best sides at this age group,’ he added.

‘From our perspective, as management staff, we were just as disappointed as the players. Everyone involved with the team, players and staff, have put in hundreds of hours of work this season, beginning last December, and for the culmination of this work to lead to a final and for it to be taken away from us, was and still is an absolutely devastating feeling.

‘One thing is for sure, a squad of players with the attitude and talent of this group is very hard to come by, and we will be quietly confident that next season we can reach new heights for a Wexford F.C. under-age side,’ Goodison concluded.

Incredibly, this is the third time in 13 months that the club has been in trouble for fielding ineligible players.

The two previous occasions involved the first team and, it should be stressed, the administrator responsible for the Under-17 situation was not in their current position at the time.

An unregistered player was fielded in a 1-1 home draw to Shelbourne on September 22 last year, with the Dubliners later awarded a 3-0 win.

And then on June 29 of this year, a 1-0 victory, ironically also away to Athlone Town, was altered to a 3-0 defeat too because Thomas Croke was introduced to the action in the 65th minute when he was suspended.

The Waterford man, who was the first team top scorer in the previous season with six goals, subsequently left the club.

A statement on the Wexford F.C. official website confirmed that, following a hearing of the Disciplinary Control Unit on October 24, the Under-17 win was forfeited.

‘The offence occurred as two boys who were advised as suspended for the fixture due to an accumulation of yellow cards, were inadvertently played on the day,’ it contined.

‘Due to an administrative error, the relevant notifications which arrived at the same time as other notifications were missed and the Under-17 team management were never advised.

‘We as a club are desperately sorry that Billy Molloy, his coaching team and his fine squad of talented young players and their very supportive families will not get the reward that their effort, ability and spirit merited after a tremendous season. We look forward to seeing their development as a squad in the future with better times to come for sure.’

On a brighter note, the club’s Under-15 squad do have a shield final to look forward to this weekend, as they will travel to Oriel Park to face Dundalk on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, the women continue to fly the flag for the club and will contest Sunday’s FAI Cup final in the Aviva Stadium.