Cullen Killeen of Loughrea (right) was sent off against Slaughtneil in last month’s All-Ireland Club SHC semi-final at Parnell Park (Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne)
Loughrea have received a huge boost head of Sunday’s All-Ireland Club SHC final after Cullen Killen’s red card from the semi-final win against Slaughtneil was overturned by the DRA on Friday night.
The midfielder was shown a straight red in the closing moments of last month’s semi-final at Parnell Park.
After consulting with his linesman, referee Johnny Murphy brandished a red for an apparent strike with the hurl on Brendan Rogers.
Subsequent replays of the incident showed the pair tussling off the ball and Loughrea were unable to produce evidence to clear the 19-year-old.
On that basis, appeals to both the Central Hearing Committee (CHC) and Central Appeals Committee (CAC) were dismissed.
After exhausting all avenues of appeal within the GAA, the Galway champions brought their case to the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).
The hearing took place on Friday night in Dublin, less than 48 hours before Loughrea are due to meet Ballygunner at Croke Park.
The DRA determined that there was a “misapplication” of Rule 7.3 by the CHC in the original appeal. That ruling relates to procedures for disciplinary hearings and the DRA quashed the rulings of the CHC and the CAC leaving Killen free to play in Sunday’s decider.