Paddy Dunican has deleted a controversial tweet he posted in the wake of Offaly's relegation to Division 3 of the Allianz Football League.

In the tweet, the Shamrocks goalkeeper blasted the inconsistency of the match officials who handled the Faithful County's do-or-die clash with Cork in Tullamore last Sunday before later removing it.

Cork’s winning point came from a Stephen Sherlock 20-metre free which was awarded after Dunican received a back-pass from team-mate Jordan Hayes directly from his own kick-out and stopped the ball from crossing the line for a Cork '45. Fermanagh referee Niall Cullen correctly awarded a free-in, but Dunican claims Offaly were blown for the same offence earlier when a throw ball was awarded.

“So.. ‘a huge mistake on my behalf’ .. the ball was kicked back to me..my choices were A) let it out for 45 and cork free shot at goal. B) throw ball which is a 50/50,” he tweeted.

“So I chose the ‘50/50 ball instead of a 45 (free shot at goal) obviously. But the referee then gave a free in from the 14 for the same rule they called earlier in the game as a throw ball.

“This is apparently my fault to those who clearly did not watch the game.. the real crime is 1) umpires) related to officials who… offer no input to the modern game (no official training).

“B) the lineswoman (Maggie Farrelly) called that in the first half out of nowhere to make some sort of name for herself. The referee admitted to making a mistake in the first half and said it should have been their free.

“The moral of the story - an absolute disgrace. There was never going to be anything between the two teams. When you make up a rule for no good reason - it’s nothing other than embarrassing.

“And btw, we didn’t just lose the league today - but, when so much goes into the basic rules of the game, you’d expect some sort of adequacy. So much goes into our game all to be taken away from a few lads who have no idea of the rules.” 

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