MONAGHAN’S DARREN HUGHES admitted he was left ‘in a state of shock’ after his controversial dismissal in their loss to Tyrone.
The former skipper was shown a straight red card for lightly touching the hair of Tiarnan McCann who fell to the floor.
Tyrone’s McCann has been heavily criticised by pundits and social media users for going to ground too easily in the All-Ireland quarter-final tie.
Experienced Hughes claimed he merely ‘tapped’ McCann on the head and said that neither himself, referee Marty Duffy or McCann covered themselves in glory.
Hughes confirmed the card will be appealed though the damage was done on Saturday as he missed the crucial latter stages of the Ulster champions’ four-point loss.
Hughes said: “I was just in a state of shock when it happened. I genuinely couldn’t believe it.
“I knew straight away there was no point arguing with Marty Duffy, he wasn’t going to change his decision. I think he has a lot to…look, he was looking straight at it.
“All three parties are probably accountable for what happened, myself, McCann and the referee. But it was a far cry from a sending-off, no way.”
Referee Duffy dished out three red cards overall as well as two black cards and 13 bookings in a tempestuous all-Ulster encounter. The game grew increasingly spiteful late on as Monaghan chased down a Tyrone side that eventually won by four.
Hughes said the incident between himself and McCann was a minor one.
The experienced forward said: “It was a bit of verbals, nothing serious. I went over and tapped him on the head. Everyone could see there was no malice in it.
“It’s just one of those things and as I say, I don’t think any of the three people involved did themselves any favours.”
Asked about McCann’s reaction specifically, Hughes shrugged: “He went down and that was that, that was his reaction, he probably feels it paid off as I got the line. It’s disappointing and I obviously didn’t feel it was a red card.”
Monaghan manager Malachy O’Rourke felt powerful Hughes could have made a difference in the closing 10 minutes as they chased down Tyrone.
Hughes said: “I probably wasn’t having my best game but I still felt there was time on the clock to make an impact, around 10 minutes. We might have got a lucky break for a goal or something.”
Hughes accepted that Monaghan didn’t deliver overall as they started sluggishly and slipped to their third consecutive All-Ireland quarter-final defeat.
He said: “You can’t go to Croke Park in August and not play. It was just a very flat performance and it was too late really when we did get it going.
“This last three years we’ve got to the quarter-finals and this year was seen as the one for us to push on but we’ve failed again.
“I’m obviously delighted to get the Ulster title but I felt we had to push on in the All-Ireland series to really define ourselves. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that and it’s still pretty raw at the moment.”
Straight Red and a minimum 3 month ban for diving would sort out these cheats
I think the only fitting punishment for McCann is to have his head shaved,would prevent this kind of hair related atrocity in the future.
it was an electric shock due to static!!
Time to ban Ulster teams from football, it’s the only way.
I’m still in shock that a GAA player dived….
Have the GAA got a rule, like they have in soccer, where retrospective action can be taken against players for simulation? If not then it should be brought in quickly the way the game is going nowadays.
Getting sick of this story now, please move on. I’m all for highlighting the peoples disgust but this is borderline bullying and harassment. I hope the guy can take this onslaught of negative attention mentally.
If the appropriate authorities aren’t going to punish this kind of behaviour then it’s up to the rest of us to make sure it hangs over him for the rest of the championship
If he is going to dive on the ground to get a fellow footballer sent off then he should be prepared for the justified critism that will inevitably follow such a cowardly act.
Dive or not, in future he might learn not to be feeling up his opponents and maybe concentrate on the football.
‘state of shock’ would you give over this is getting riduculous. Far worse things happening in the world time to move on and get over it.
nobody’s comparing it to aids or anything! it’s a pretty shocking thing to happen in the GAA and nothing’s being done about it. This should be highlighted by the fans until something is done about it
It was a embarrassing incident and it’s over now. The Monaghan lads need to stop giving out about it and move on. I was at the game and they were as guilty as Tyrone with dirty play and constant fouling. They were better of just trying to play football. they had the time and chances to win the game but instead let the Tyrone lads get in their heads.
I think the 8 week ban is extreme and inconsistent. Diving has been happening for years – this just looked pathetic so it gets attention.
As for Monaghan being as bad? That’s not fair – Tyrone are the common denominator in most games of controversy recently – e.g. Tyrone v Donegal and Tyrone v Monaghan but not @ Donegal v Monaghan.
Marty Duffy should never referee again.
I think they call it karma, was it not Hughes who pulled Niall Kelly’s hair and shoved him in the head last year after full time of the Kildare match?
I think they call it karma was it not Hughes who pulled Niall Kelly’s hair and shoved he’s head as they walked off after full time last year.