Armagh legend Steven McDonnell feels there was an “agenda” to get players sent off in the recent League meeting between the Orchard County and Donegal in Letterkenny.
The sides clash once again this Sunday in an eager-anticipated rematch in the Ulster Senior Football Championship in Ballybofey.
However, the build-up has been totally dominated by the fall-out from the League game last month, which Donegal won by a single point.
Read more: Donegal boss Declan Bonner queries GAA disciplinary process ahead of Armagh tie
A melee at the end of the game resulted in bans being handed out to Armagh’s Aidan Nugent, Ciarán Mackin and Stefan Campbell and, subsequently, Rian O’Neill.
All bar Mackin, who is set to miss the eye with an eye injury, successively appealed their bans, while Donegal opted against seeking hearings for defenders Neil McGee and Odhran McFadden-Ferry.
Armagh also had Greg McCabe banned for a game earlier in the campaign following a melee at the end of their round two win over All-Ireland champions Tyrone.
Speaking at the launch of the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, McDonnell also stated that Donegal’s decision not to appeal their suspensions had ultimately backfired.
When asked if Armagh have been unfairly targeted, McDonnell replied: “Quite possibly, yeah.
“There’s no doubt it, without going into too much detail, we do feel yes, there was probably an agenda set, particularly towards the end of that (Donegal) game to get key players from Armagh sent off.
"It is done and dusted now and we have all our players available and fit and ready to go into battle at Ballybofey.”
On Donegal’s decision not to appeal the bans to McGee and McFadden-Ferry, McDonnell added: “Sometimes it can backfire on you as well. Donegal made the decision themselves that they didn’t want to appeal and it seem to have backfired on them not to do that.
“It worked in Armagh’s favour on this occasion. We are all now looking forward to a hotly-contested game of football.”
While the clash of the Division One sides is the pick of the first round games in Ulster, there is a huge sense of excitement around this year’s provincial series.
As was the case last season, four teams from Ulster competed in the top flight and Armagh, Donegal, Monaghan and Tyrone all retained their Division One status for next season.
Derry narrowly failed to gain promotion from Division Two, but will relish the opportunity to take on Tyrone in Healy Park next weekend.
While McDonnell feels the competitiveness of the Ulster Championship is as strong as ever, he stressed that upsets are always possible as illustrated by Cavan’s title win in 2020.
“When we were playing, ourselves (Armagh), Tyrone and Donegal were the dominant teams. Monaghan weren’t as much a dominant force back then,” said McDonnell.
“You’ve five teams now. Even look at Cavan. . . although they were playing Division Four football, they won an Ulster Championship a couple of years ago.
“It doesn’t make a difference when it comes to Ulster football about tradition and about track records and past achievements. Each team is more than capable of beating each other.
“This campaign is going to be no different. Fermanagh, last weekend, put it up to Tyrone for a good period of the game.Tyrone, using all their experience and know-how from last year, pulled away.
“Ulster football has been a minefield for so long now, but there’s definitely five or six teams going into this campaign with realistic expectations that they can go and compete and possibly win the title.”
Read more: Conor McKenna red card: Feargal Logan confirms Tyrone star will seek a hearing
Read more: Tyrone joint manager Brian Dooher hits back at "disrespectful" All-Ireland quit claims
Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox.
