University of Limerick captain Siobhan McGrath says that her teammates were 'devastated' when they received word that they had not qualified for the semi-finals of the Ashbourne Cup, despite assurances that they had done enough to reach the final four.
Going into their last group game against Maynooth, UL claim that they sought clarity regarding what they had to do to qualify for the semi-finals. UL claim they were advised that if they won by 33 points they would qualify for the semi-final.
They won by 34 points, seemingly securing their place in the last four. They even received an official invitation to the semi-finals weekend from the College Camogie Authority, the organisation that runs Camogie at this level.
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However just days later, DCU, who UL had pipped on score difference, contested the final standings saying they believed a mistake was made in the score count of match involving them against Maynooth back in November 2022.
Once the mistake was amended, DCU progressed to the semi-final due to having a slightly superior score difference to UL.
Speaking to Off the ball AM was UL Camogie captain Siobhan McGrath spoke about how her teammates felt when they received the news.
"We're all involved in top-level sport and we understand there's high and lows but you expect to be knocked out of a competition on the pitch," McGrath said.
"One morning you're looking forward to the weekend and getting ready, the next morning you're getting a text message saying no, you're out. Everyone was just awful upset."
UL Camogie boss Ruairi Walsh also appeared on OTB AM and claimed that his side still haven't received any answers' as to why they missed out on a semi-final spot.
Walsh claims UL offered to contest a play-off game with DCU but that this was rejected by the CCAO. Walsh also revealed that unbeknownst to his side, they actually needed two more points to go through to the semi-finals.
Walsh also claims UL are yet to receive confirmation of what the issue with the scoring was from the game back in November.
"I'm not sure exactly what happened yet because we haven't received any answers but we're led to believe there was a discrepancy between what the referee said originally and what DCU sent in," said Walsh.
"The referee then clarified his score the day after we beat Maynooth."
Walsh says he was informed by email that it was DCU who would take the semi-final place and that no specific ruling was quoted as to how this decision had been arrived at.
According to Walsh UL submitted an appeal but it was rejected. They were then advised to submit another which too was rejected. All this just hours before the semi-final weekend.
Walsh has vowed to keep pursuing answers so that this "will never happen to never happen to another team again."
TU Dublin won the competition beating UCC in the final.
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