Angry Grimley plays dumb as he blames media for Armagh bans

Paul Grimley, pictured, has claimed the media influenced the GAA into doling out suspensions to Armagh after last month’s pre-match altercation against Cavan.

The Armagh manager won’t speak with the media following reporting of ‘Paradegate’, believing it contributed to Brendan Donaghy, Kieran Toner and Andy Mallon’s one-match bans. He claimed Cavan were the aggressors and expressed his frustration with only two of their players being punished compared to Armagh’s trio.

“We only have to look back at the hysterical reporting after the Cavan game, which was laughable,” he told the Newry Democrat. “The media did, in my opinion, influence Liam O’Neill and Páraic Duffy and the Central Competitions Control Committee and put pressure on them and they reacted as they normally do. We were standing in an orderly fashion behind the band and we were attacked. Liam O’Neill might say we stood behind the wrong flag but there is no protocol in the GAA rulebook about standing behind the band but there is an unwritten understanding that the home team stands at the inside.

“Obviously there was only one way to deal with this and that is to turn around and protest, as hysterical reporting put pressure on the CCCC and put pressure on me and O’Neill thought the easy target was Armagh. Now we are in a position where we can’t trust the media to report accurately. So the best thing to do is to leave them to their own devices.”