Three Armagh and two Donegal players have been suspended.
Donegal secured a one point victory over Armagh during Sunday’s National League game, a vital win that meant Declan Bonner’s side secure their status in Division One for another year.
The loss also prevented Armagh from reaching the league final, and tensions were clearly at tipping point when the final whistle blew, as a melee broke out between players on the pitch and the substitutes.
These two side meet each other in their opening games of the Ulster championship on April 24th, so neither team wanted to back down, but their involvement in the scuffle now has costly consequences.
It has been confirmed to the Irish Examiner that one-match bans have been handed out to five players, three from Armagh and two from Donegal, meaning that they will miss the opening championship tie.
Armagh’s Ciaran Mackin, Aidan Nugent and Stefan Campbell have been sanctioned, along with Donegal’s Odhran McFadden-Ferry and Neil McGee.
These players have been charged for the crime of ‘contributing to a melee’, as detailed by the referee, Paddy Neilan.
This is the second time during this league campaign that the Orchard county have been involved in such an incident. During their home win over Tyrone in the second round of the league, wrestling matches all over the pitch broke out in injury time.
The referee in charge that day, David Gough, handed out four red cards to the All-Ireland champions and one to the home side, all of which were suspended for the following game.
It appears that the GAA are setting a precedent to stop such events from occurring as often.
