Hughes: I would have done the same as Sean

Monaghan's Darren Hughes has said he would have committed the same cynical foul as Sean Cavanagh whose "rugby tackle" denied Conor McManus a goal-scoring chance during Tyrone's All-Ireland SFC quarter-final win at Croke Park.

It was a crucial moment in Saturday's all-Ulster tie which finished in a 0-14 to 0-12 victory for the Red Hands, with the 49th minute incident involving Cavanagh and Monaghan forward McManus emerging as a huge talking point.

RTÉ pundit Joe Brolly launched a tirade against Cavanagh during the live post-match analysis, branding the challenge "an absolute disgrace" and something which should have no place in Gaelic football.

Whatever the legitimacy of his argument, Brolly did get particularly personal when adding: "I see Mickey Harte smiling and jumping up and down at the end like they achieved. I'll tell you what, they achieved something absolutely rotten.

"I can't believe somebody gave Sean Cavanagh a man-of-the-match award...it's not within the rules, you’re not allowed rugby tackle a player to the ground. He's a brilliant footballer but you can forget about Sean Cavanagh as a man."

Some may suggest that such a tackle which denies opposition a shot at the goal or posts is part and parcel of modern Championship football, and it seems that the yellow-carded Cavanagh and Monaghan player Hughes agree on that point.

Cavanagh told Newstalk afterwards: "I don't make the rules of GAA. Most football teams are brought up with if a man is through to score a goal, you stop him any way necessary...I have been very unlucky in my career, I've probably received more punishment than I've given out.

"It is cynical play, it's unfortunate. I don't want to play football like that - unfortunately the rules of GAA dictate that (when a man is through on goal) a yellow card does not mean that much to you."

Next season that will different as the introduction of the black card, an attempt to clamp down on such cynical play, would see Cavanagh issued with a black card and be replaced. Three black cards in a match will result in a team being unable to replace the player leaving the pitch.

Hughes was not pointing the finger of blame at Cavanagh though. "It was a blatant goal opportunity and next year that is a man (sent) off but there is no point whinging about it. If I was in Sean Cavanagh's position I'd have done the exact same thing myself," said the Scotstown clubman of his Ulster interprovincial team-mate.

Instead, Hughes lashed out at referee Cormac Reilly and the performance of the Meath official - most notably his decision to award Hughes a yellow card in the 17th minute for a challenge which Cavanagh later admitted did not warrant a card.

Commenting on the incident that saw Hughes dispossess Cavanagh, he explained: "I told him (Reilly) to wait 10 seconds and look at the screen - maybe they are not allowed to, but I knew I'd got the ball.

"It shouldn't have affected me but Cavanagh got three points off me after it and I am disappointed about that. It did frustrate me and I did have a bit of a vendetta towards the referee after that.

"Cormac Reilly is a disaster most of the time but that is what you're up against. He won't be back in Croke Park this year, I don't think. We were in a great position but decisions went against us at crucial times."

Reilly sent off Tyrone attacker Martin Penrose for striking Dessie Mone after the half-time whistle had been blown, while Hughes' brother Kieran was dismissed in the second half for his second bookable offence.

TV coverage also showed Red Hands defender Conor Gormley hitting Mone in the face during that heated exchange at the interval, but he escaped punishment at the time and may avoid sanction if the GAA's Central Competition Controls Committee deem that Reilly has already dealt with the incident.

Meanwhile, Tyrone forward Paddy McNeice will miss the rest of the season after breaking his collarbone during the closing stages of the All-Ireland quarter-final.

Brought on as a substitute early in the second period, McNeice lasted only 10 minutes on the pitch as he broke his collarbone in two places and was hospitalised at the nearby Mater Hospital in Dublin.

Tyrone team trainer Fergal McCann confirmed that the Coalisland clubman is due to have an operation at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, but there is no date set as of yet.