Sheriff YC re-instated to FAI Junior Cup after objection against Regional

Sheriff YC have been re-instated to the FAI Junior Cup semi-final at the expense of Limerick District League club Regional United following a hearing in Dublin on Thursday evening. Aisling Annacotty will contest the semi-final after Westport’s appeal was turned down.

It is a bitter blow for the Dooradoyle club who completed a tremendous comeback against Sheriff two weeks ago. Having been 2-0 down, Shane O’Donoghue and Tom O’Connell’s men fought back to win 3-2 following extra-time against the favourites.

Rumours began to circulate that the Dublin club would launch an appeal due to their belief that Regional player Sosuke Kimura did not receive relevant international clearance upon arrival to the Limerick District League with Aisling Annacotty all of three seasons ago.

Kimura won the penalty in the final minutes to level the scores. If this is the case, Regional will feel that the system has failed them in this instance. Kimura only signed for the club this season following two years at Aisling Annacotty.

It would be fair to assume that the player, his former club and the organisers of the league would have ensured that the player was correctly registered upon arrival.

It is expected that Regional will appeal the decision.

Aisling Annacotty will meet Sheriff YC as it stands after Westport’s appeal was thrown out. Westport appealed that Aaron Murphy should not have played in their FAI Junior Cup quarter final clash as he was suspended. However, Murphy had already rightly served his suspension locally.

Unfortunately, it appears that hopes for an all-Limerick semi-final at Jackman Park have all but ended.