The Laois senior hurling final between Camross and Rathdowney-Errill didn’t pass without controversy.
Camross won the game, but their 26th championship win was marred by the inquest that followed.
A couple of minutes before half-time a few hurls were pulled by Camross players under the stand in O’Moore Park. Rathdowney-Errill’s Ross King ran towards the bunch of players as most players in that situation would have.
On arrival, he was met with the nose of the hurley in through the helmet and into the face by Camross’ Darrell Dooley. The stroke left King with a split lip and knocked back a few of his teeth.
It wasn’t long before images surfaced of Camross players mocking King and apparently making a joke of the facial injury he’d suffered.
With the Camross lads in the spotlight for their indiscretions, footage has since emerged of a melee that occurred in the Laois senior hurling semi-final between themselves and Borris-Kilcotton.
Camross won the game 1-17 to 1-12 to progress to the final, but they were again involved in a row during the game.
It was mid-way through the first half when the referee threw the ball-in between a Camross player and a Borris-Kilcotton player. The Borris-Kilcotton player pulls on the ball, before the Camross lad strikes back at him late and with force.
The ball broke down the field for a couple more strokes to be pulled, and this was followed by a Camross mentor pulling the helmet off a Borris-Kilcotton player.
A melee was sparked then and a couple of more punches were thrown.
Referee John O’Brien saw fit for only yellow cards after this, just as the same man did when the brawl broke out in the final.
