Donegal forward Dermot 'Brick' Molloy cannot wait for Sunday's Ulster SFC opener against Antrim to come around after a controversial suspension brought his 2010 debut season to a premature halt.

Molloy bagged 1-3 in an impressive Ulster SFC debut against Down 12 months ago, but things turned sour when the CCCC handed him a retrospective four-week ban after TV footage appeared to show him firing an elbow in the direction of his marker Damien Rafferty.

The Naomh Conaill clubman subsequently missed Donegal's All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Armagh in Crossmaglen, but is hoping to make up for lost time on Sunday.

"It was a dream debut to get the goal and then three points against Down last year," he said.

"I suppose for any young lad it would've been but then I learned my season was effectively over when I heard the news from the CCCC, who had spotted that elbow that wasn't.

"I was actually away with Michael (Murphy) and Leo (McLoone) at a Cadbury's award night for the U21s and the messages about my ban came through on my phone.

"My family were even more down than I was. I was looking forward to the Armagh game and it was only then the shock crept in when I realised I wouldn't be part of it."

Donegal are being spoken of as potential Ulster champions following their recent NFL Division 2 success, but Molloy is refusing to look beyond Antrim, who caused a huge shock in the same fixture two years ago.

"People are saying we might be dark horses for Ulster but as a group of players we are not saying that," he continued.

"If you get carried away at this stage and start thinking about Ulster finals or semi-finals you are not going to concentrate on what's important right now - and that's Antrim." Tweet

Most Read Stories