Melee mars Irish Cup game at Warrenpoint

A fence collapsed and fans spilled onto the pitch during Ballymena United’s 2-1 Irish Cup away win over Warrenpoint Town on Saturday.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Feb 2020, 16:51 BST
The final stages of Ballymena United's 2-1 Irish Cup win over Warrenpoint Town were marred by a brawl between players, spectators and stewards at Milltown. Pacemaker BelfastThe final stages of Ballymena United's 2-1 Irish Cup win over Warrenpoint Town were marred by a brawl between players, spectators and stewards at Milltown. Pacemaker Belfast
The final stages of Ballymena United's 2-1 Irish Cup win over Warrenpoint Town were marred by a brawl between players, spectators and stewards at Milltown. Pacemaker Belfast

Shortly after Andy McGrory hit the winning goal for the visitors, Warrenpoint goalkeeper Mark Byrne was involved in an injury-time altercation with spectators at Milltown.

Video footage of the incident posted online shows some punches being thrown before a number of those involved fell over and continued to grapple on the ground.

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Byrne was shown a red card by the referee following the melee, which also involved club staff members and stewards.

Warrenpoint Town boss Barry Gray says the incident “was not a good advert for football in Northern Ireland.”

He told the BBC: “None of us want to see scenes like that in any shape or form. This is a family orientated club and a safe club.

“Today we are hoping that this unique situation can be resolved and if there is punishment to be handed out then it is done accordingly.”

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Gray added: “Hopefully we will never see scenes like this again, and this is a stark lesson for everyone involved that there is no place in football for this.

The Irish Football Association confirmed an investigation will take place but will wait until they see the referee’s report.

Related topics:Barry GrayWarrenpoint TownBBC