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Murphy incident 'a silly act' - Armagh's Forkerpublished at 10:40 GMT 4 February
Image source,Getty ImagesImage caption, Aidan Forker was sent off for a headbutt in the direction of the returning Michael Murphy last year
Armagh captain Aidan Forker says his headbutting incident with Michael Murphy on the Donegal forward's return last year was a "silly act".
In February 2025, Murphy made his first inter-county appearance in 981 days as a second-half substitute in the Allianz Football League fixture.
Moments after Murphy's introduction, the pair found themselves in a pushing match before the Armagh captain headbutted Murphy in the chest and was sent off.
"There's no explaining it, really. It was a silly act and a rush of blood, or whatever you want to say," Forkersaid on the GAA Social podcast.
"It's on me. I'll take responsibility and it was silly, but it's well gone now at this stage."
Forker said it was "in the moment" and he remained off social media for six weeks, but his wife, Eimear, struggled with seeing abuse sent in the direction of the Armagh captain.
"It was a silly thing to do, it looked silly and there was a bit of aftermath there," he said.
"Apparently I took a lot of abuse online, and Eimear really struggled with that. I just walked off the pitch and didn't see any of the coverage. It is what it is, no one got hurt so it's fine."
No date on return from injury
Forker had surgery on his ankle in the inter-county off season and has been managing a back issue, so did not feature in the McKenna Cup or Armagh's opening league games - a win over Moaghan and a narrow loss to Galway.
The 33-year-old said his "body is generally feeling good" but he is not putting a time frame on his return to action.
"The hunger is still there to keep going," Forker said.
"I'm determined to get back, the boys are flying and I want to be part of that again.
"I usually like putting numbers on things but I haven't with us, I'm just going by how my body feels.
"I'm not saying it's going to be three, six or 12 weeks, I'm just going by how I feel."
Forker said he was always talking to Kieran McGeeney about his return, but the Armagh manager wasn't putting any pressure on him to rush his recovery.
"Last year I wasn't feeling myself and I was probably lying to myself.
"I wasn't useful last year, I wasn't myself physically. I wasn't doing anyone a service.
"The itch is still there but you have to listen to your body.
"Hopefully I'm on the right track and over the worst of it."
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