Darren Hughes says all three wrong in red card farce
Hughes was handed a straight red card by referee Marty Duffy for ruffling the hair of Tyrone’s Tiarnan McCann late in Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter-final tie.
McCann fell to the ground in dramatic fashion and was heavily criticised by pundits and social media users for feigning injury.
Former captain Hughes said he was left “in a state of shock” by Duffy’s decision to dismiss him, and said that McCann “probably feels that his actions paid off as I got the line”.
Both centre-forward Hughes and Monaghan officials confirmed that the red card will be appealed.
“I was just in a state of shock when it happened,” said Hughes.
“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.
“It was a bit of verbals, nothing serious,” he said. “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,” said Hughes. “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.
“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,” said Hughes.
“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.
“You can’t go to Croke Park in August and not play,” he said. “It was just a very flat performance and it was too late 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.”
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