Cavan’s Terry Hyland felt Armagh were the aggressors in mass brawl

The vexed issue of flags has been at the heart of a lot of unrest in the North in recent years, but no one could have imagined it would spill on the Gaelic fields of Ulster in such dramatic fashion.

The Armagh team lined up behind the Cavan flag, which was being carried by the St Michael's Scout Band prior to yesterday's Ulster SFC quarter-final in the Athletic Grounds.

This sparked a major scuffle between the players before the pre-match parade.

The row left Cavan full-forward Martin Dunne with a suspected broken hand while Armagh defender Brendan Donaghy also had to receive treatment before the game finally got under way.

Cavan manager Terry Hyland felt Armagh were the aggressors in igniting the flashpoint.

“[The Dunne injury] would appear to have happened at the start of the parade, in that incident,” Hyland confirmed.

“His hands and his arm are injured. I hadn’t time to talk to him, with the game about to start, but it happened at that juncture. I didn’t really see what happened as I was around 80 yards away from it.

“Why it started, I dunno. It was an issue over flags and Armagh stood behind the Cavan flag. It shouldn’t really have happened and I couldn’t do anything to get involved in it. [Dunne] was well spoken about in the press during the week anyway.”

When asked if he was blaming the media, Hyland said: “I said [Dunne] was spoken about in the media. He was quoted about in the media – not as a [direct] quote.”

Armagh manager Paul Grimley ran across the field when the fight started to act as peacemaker and later quipped: "It took me about five or 10 minutes to get over there and when I did, I thought what in hell took me over?"

“I think it was more to do with nerves. I think the media built the game up as well. Well, what can I say about that?”

When asked if Armagh had deliberately lined up behind the Cavan flag, he responded: “you will have to get the FBI for that one.” ORLA BANNON PHOTOGRAPH: WILLIAM CHERRY/PRESSEYE/INPHO