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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Gareth Fullerton

Warrenpoint vs Ballymena United melee mars end of Irish Cup tie

The Irish FA is likely to investigate the ugly scenes which marred the end of Saturday's Irish Cup tie between Warrenpoint Town and Ballymena United.

Warrenpoint goalkeeper Mark Byrne was involved in a heated incident with supporters in injury time.

A perimeter fence collapsed during the fracas with Byrne and fans spilling onto the pitch.

Other players and officials from both clubs, including Warrenpoint manager Barry Gray, rushed over to try and diffuse the situation.

The incident happened shortly after Andy McGrory scored the winning goal for Ballymena in a 2-1 victory at Milltown.

The final whistle was sounded soon after and it is believed Byrne was sent off by referee Shane Andrews.

"None of us want to see scenes like that in any shape or form. This is a family orientated club and a safe club," Point boss Gray told the BBC.

"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.

"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."

Ballymena United manager David Jeffrey added: "Like everyone, I saw lots of people coming together, but I couldn't see why or how.

"My only concern was my own players and I wanted them to make sure that they were safe, get things calmed down and very quickly that happened."

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