WICKLOW GAA bosses have vowed to crack down hard on clubs and players after two matches ended in rows.

Unsavoury incidents in matches had become almost a thing of the past in recent years until ugly scenes at games reared their head once more at the weekend.

The first flare-up between rival players occurred at the Dunne-Cup final between Newtown and Carnew on Friday night at Roundwood and resulted in a total of eight players receiving red cards from Tinahely referee Kieran Kenny.

Less than 24 hours later trouble again flared at a football match in Wicklow with the good image being painstakingly built tarnished yet again in a championship relegation battle at Aughrim on Saturday between Shillelagh and Arklow Geraldines/Ballymoney.

No players were apparently red carded by Hollywood referee Pat Dunne but yet the match ended in an unedifying brawl and melee.

The Dunne Cup final at Roundwood was an exemplar of sportsmanship until it turned sour inside the last ten minutes when a number of players became embroiled in a less than noble exhibition of the art of boxing on the stand sideline.

Newtown's county star Dean Odlum sneaked his way down the right flank virtually unnoticed to drill the ball into the far corner of the net for the clinching goal while most of the players in that half of the field were too busy grappling with each other on the other side of the field.

When the row was sorted out, referee Kenny dished out several red cards, some of the reds were for verbals, and most were to Newtown players.

The match resumed but play did not continue very long before practically all the players still on the field got sucked into another punch up. Referee Kieran Kenny handed out more red cards. Newtown were now down to ten men – one of their six reds was to a substitute who was not playing – and Carnew were down to 13 players.

The match was restarted again and injury time was played out. Newtown won by 1-8 to 0-6 despite being down to ten men.

The matter will now land on the desk of Wicklow's Competitions Control Committee who just days before this incident had handed down a 48 weeks suspension to a player as a result of Hollywood referee Pat Dunne being struck in an abandoned Carter Cup semi-final between Carnew and Avondale two weeks earlier.

Three other players who received straight red cards in that Carter Cup match received one month bans from the CCC.

The Keating Cup match at Aughrim, a cracking battle between Arklow Geraldines/Ballymoney and Shillelagh for the right to retain senior status, had just ended without any trace of trouble or bad feelings.

AGB had finished strongly, scoring three points in the last five minutes and were just running down the clock, waiting for the final whistle.

Shillelagh's fight for survival was not helped by the fact that they had run out of subs and tired legs, more than anything else led to referee Pat Dunne of Hollywood issuing the first yellow card of the match to Shillelagh manager Anthony Grey for a late tackle.

Grey was playing in the No 12 jersey which was an indication of Shillelagh's problems.

The only other yellow card during actual playing time was issued to Shillelagh's corner forward Darren Kavanagh minutes before he went off injured.

With the match in injury time Shillelagh, as they make a habit of doing, grabbed the goal they needed to draw the match.

As soon as the kick out landed in midfield the referee blew the full time whistle but not before an Arklow player put in a late tackle on a Shillelagh player.

As Shillelagh was celebrating their great escape a melee broke out, at first involving just the players in the general midfield area.

At that time the referee was trying to single out the AGB player to give him a yellow card for the late tackle.

The trouble died down but flared up again on a few occasions and six or seven minutes had passed before Pat Dunne managed to deliver the yellow card.

No other action was taken on the day but when the referee sends in his report it will get a hearing at a CCC meeting and it is expected that disciplinary action will be taken.