Tyrone to appeal Tiernan McCann’s eight-week ‘Rufflegate’ ban

Tyrone may have confirmed their intention to appeal the eight-week ban proposed for Tiernan McCann, but there was little further light shone on the affair at the county’s Garvaghy HQ last night as Mickey Harte met with the media.

It is two years since the county’s last pre-All-Ireland semi-final press conference when a fact sheet was distributed to journalists on the back of Sean Cavanagh’s rugby tackle on Monaghan’s Conor McManus in the last eight and the brouhaha that emanated from that.

The A4 sheet that night claimed Tyrone had been more sinned against than sinners in 2013, but there was no appetite to instigate debate on the latest controversy which arose with McCann’s decision to feign injury when having his hair tousled by Monaghan’s Darren Hughes. Rufflegate, as some wags are now calling it.