BY KIERAN LYNCH

THE scoreboard in Ballycran on Sunday read 2-10 to 1-12 in favour of Down after a hard-fought win over Carlow, with Marc Fisher’s stoppage time goal bringing the home crowd to its feet.

However, the narrative of the victory became much darker after manager Down Ronan Sheehan tweeted that his players had been subject to sectarian abuse from their visitors during the match.

He spoke to Gaelic Life regarding what his players told him following the game.

“Look, I think that the main thing remains the game and the fact that we won. That’s the most important thing for us and that’s what we’re focused on,” Sheehan declared, before discussing the alleged treatment of his squad.

“But I had come into the dressing room about 20 minutes after the match had finished, to find a number of the players were discussing the game. It came up that they had been subjected to a variety of verbal abuse, ranging from them being referenced to as ‘Brits’ or ‘Prods’ to other such things.

“It’s really disappointing, and I had asked them was it one individual who was at it, and they said ‘no, a number of individuals had partaken in it during the game.’ To be fair, the players shrugged it off, which is the frustrating thing because they said it’s par for the course and that they get it regularly.

“But I said, ‘listen this s**t needs to stop’ and it needs highlighted.”

As mentioned, Sheehan took to social media to make public the claims his squad brought to him, and he explained the reasons for why he wanted to address it.

“When I highlighted it on social media, I knew that it would get attention and publicity,” he said.

“I have no doubt that the GAA take it seriously and would be appalled by those kinds of comments, but the reality is that unless the referee hears it, he can do very little about it. But the challenging thing is that this will come down to a we said, they said, kind of thing.

“I’m not looking for a witch-hunt here against individual players – actually, this is more of a problem across the GAA in terms of sledging. I wanted to highlight this because northern teams have been exposed to this sort of thing on numerous occasions.

“If me highlighting this does nothing else but deter others from engaging in that activity in the future, then it will be something well done.”

Ultimately, these situations will need to be stamped out of the GAA immediately and Sheehan concluded by emphasising that Gaelic Games are for all and should not be divisive.

“We don’t want people’s religions brought into this, or our Irishness questioned. We were playing on a pitch in Ballycran, which had been burned down twice in the Troubles. I’m not sure that has happened to any club in Carlow.

“In our dressing room, we couldn’t give a damn if you’re Catholic or Protestant or of no faith at all – that doesn’t bother us. What does bother us is whether or not you want to play hurling for Down.”

Carlow GAA have released a statement regarding the allegations stating: “Carlow GAA are committed to upholding the principles of anti-sectarianism and anti-racism. All related reports and allegations are investigated and action taken as appropriate.”