Kilmacrennan Celtic can now be presented with the Donegal League Premier Division trophy, after a lengthy appeals process concluded.

It proved to be a controversial end to the Premier Division season, when league leaders Kilmacrennan were docked points by the Donegal League’s disciplinary committee for the fielding of an illegal player against Cranford back on August 9.

Cranford lodged a compliant with the Donegal League and Kilmacrennan were hit with a deduction of three points which allowed Cappry Rovers to leapfrog them into first place.

The row rumbled on with Kilmacrennan taking a case to the Ulster FA Disciplinary Committee. And that push to the provincial body resulted in those previous points being reinstated after they were deemed to have acted in good faith.

That wasn’t the end of the matter, as another appeal – not from Cranford this time – was subsequently sent to Dublin and the FAI.

However, the Donegal League confirmed this morning that the whole appeals process has now been exhausted.

In a statement the Donegal League said: “On the basis of notification received from the FAI we can now confirm that Kilmacrennan Celtic are indeed this season’s champions. The Cup will be presented in due course.”