Offaly GAA chairman Michael Duignan has condemned the unsavoury scenes which marred the end of yesterday’s Leinster Club SFC Round 1 encounter between Tullamore and Summerhill.

The game ended on a sour note when referee Barry Tiernan was verbally abused and pushed to the ground by an individual as he was escorted from the Glenisk O’Connor Park pitch following Summerhill’s 1-9 to 1-7 victory. Tiernan had infuriated Tullamore when he changed his mind over the awarding of a penalty to them in the sixth minute of stoppage-time.

The Offaly champions were trailing by two points when Tiernan initially awarded a close-range free after a Summerhill player touched the ball on the ground. Then, after consulting with his umpires, he awarded a penalty.

As Paul McConway waited to take the penalty, there was further delay as players from both sides engaged in some pushing and shoving. Following further consultation with one of his linesmen, Tiernan reverted back to his original decision to award a free-in instead of a penalty.

With 13 Summerhill players on the goal-line, John Furlong’s shot was blocked and the final whistle eventually sounded before unsavoury scenes followed.

“I can't deny it. Disgraceful incident,” Duignan said on RTÉ Radio.

“There was a bit of controversy at the end where the referee awarded a penalty and then it was overruled and obviously the players were frustrated and they were remonstrating.

“The players were well away from the ref coming off the field. The Tullamore team [are] a very sporting team, just disappointed which you would be, but somebody came in from the terrace then and pushed the referee from behind.

“Terrible. It's a very, very tough job and I would have had my arguments over the years with refs but you wouldn't dream about laying a finger on a referee.

"So look, I'm very sorry it happened here today and I'm sure it'll be dealt with in due course.”

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