Ballinamallard United have lodged a challenge to the Irish Football Association (IFA) on Dungannon Swifts playing team captain Ryan Harpur in last Saturday's meeting between the sides at Stangmore Park.

A Club statement said: “Everyone with an interest in Irish League football was aware that Dungannon Swifts Captain Ryan Harpur was sent-off in the League Cup final the previous week.

“It was a massive surprise to us when we realised that the player was included in the Dungannon Swifts team against ourselves and raised the matter with a match official.

“The IFA Disciplinary Code is clear in that it states in two separate articles that a player who is dismissed is automatically suspended from the subsequent match, therefore in this case it automatically follows that Ryan Harpur would be suspended for the next match.

“A further article in the Disciplinary Code states that there can be no challenge to a caution or dismissal, except in the case of mistaken identity, which in this incident the player concerned actually admitted in a number of media sources that he was indeed involved in the incident.

“Ballinamallard United are therefore surprised if a Club were to attempt an erroneous appeal and even more surprised if the IFA were to accept such an appeal, otherwise the vast percentage of on-the-field bookings and sending-offs would be appealed at every level of football.”