Drogheda United's Shane Grimes has been banned from football for eight months by the Disciplinary Panel of the Irish Sports Council after he tested positive for a prohibited substance following a random doping test.

Grimes claimed he was unaware that the energy drink he had consumed contained methylhexaneamine.

The judging panel determined that Shane did not intend to enhance his sporting performance but found him guilty of "carelessness".

Drogheda United chairman Jim Agnew said: "Everyone in the club, but most especially Mick Cooke and the coaching staff, were shocked and hugely disappointed to have had one of our players involved in such a case.

"While accepting Shane Grimes assertion that he made a genuine mistake in not ensuring that the supplement he was taking was 'safe', Drogheda United fully supports the Irish Sports Council’s handling of this matter.

"The club understands that the regulations exist to protect the integrity of football and the long-term health of our players."

"It is every player’s responsibility to ensure that any supplements or medication that they are proposing to take do not contain any ingredient on the banned list. We will work closely with the various bodies in future to make sure that the message gets through to all players.

"Having learned this tough lesson, our hope is to see Shane return in a Claret & Blue jersey next season."

Grimes stated: "I am extremely disappointed that my season has ended early and that I won't be able to help my team mates for the remainder of the year. However, this is balanced with feelings of relief and gratitude that the Sports Council panel accept that I did not knowingly take a performance enhancing drug.

"The most important thing now is that lessons are learnt from this. If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. I would urge that all players and sports people check and double check what they put into their body, no matter how harmless it may seem."