Beagh win their appeal against relegation and other sanctions

BEAGH have been cleared to play in this year’s county senior hurling championship following a successful appeal to the Galway Hearings Committee. The club had been sanctioned by the Galway CCC over allegedly fielding a player – US based John Moylan – in breach of Covid restrictions for a relegation game against Kinvara last September. Beagh won that derby clash (3-13 to 1-13) to avoid the final relegation play-off, but after a County Board investigation, the club was hit with a proposed eight-week suspension and automatic relegation, together with bans for outgoing team manager Brendan Gantley, Club Chairman Adrian Diviney and Secretary Cepta Keane. But the Galway Hearings Committee ruled that the case against Beagh for bringing the GAA into disrepute has ‘not been proven’, resulting in the club escaping any penalty as Moylan – the player at the centre of the controversy – has already won his case against a proposed 48-week ban before the GAA’s Central Appeals Committee. The net result is that Kinvara will now face Leitrim/Leitrim in a relegation play-off to see which club preserves their senior status for the 2021 championship.