Glentoran's appeal against their expulsion from this season's Irish Cup has been rejected by the IFA's Appeal Board. The Glens had been suspended from the competition after they were deemed to have played an ineligible player Joe Crowe in their quarter-final against Newry City.
They won that match 1-0 but Newry City lodged a protest which the Appeal Board yesterday upheld in response to Glentoran's appeal.
In the original ruling, it was deemed that Crowe had not fully served a three-match suspension arising out of a red card he had received while playing for Glentoran Reserves.
Although Glentoran Reserves had played three matches following Crowe’s sending off, one of them was an Intermediate Cup game, for which Crowe would not have been eligible.
Lough 41 Championship leaders Newry City will now face Ballymena United in the semi-final of the Samuel Gelston Irish Cup on Wednesday April 13.
Speaking to the Irish News following the original ruling to expel Glentoran from the competition, Newry City manager Darren Mullen said: “We now have a massive occasion for the club in an Irish Cup semi-final and I know it’s a day everyone involved with the club will be looking forward to. Ballymena will be another extremely tough ask but we will take plenty of positives from our performance against Glentoran.”
