Tyrone set to appeal after four red-cards issued in derby clash

By Alan Rodgers

A MELEE involving over a dozen players melee which resulted in the red-card dismissal of a record four from Tyrone will be studied closely as the fall-out continues from the Ulster derby clash against Armagh.

An attendance of 14, 238 watched as the Red Hands lost by six points, 2-14 to 0-14. But the result was largely consigned to the background following the sending off of Padraig Hampsey, Kieran McGeary, Michael McKernan and Peter Harte following the row minutes from the finish.

Tyrone joint-manager, Feargal Logan, said that they would be studying the video before any decisions are taken on whether or not to launch appeals. It’s likely, though, that officials will be challenging the dismissals.

It was looking bad for the Red Hands at half-time when they trailed by 2-8 to 0-3 following a poor performance in the opening period. Armagh, fresh from their big win over Dublin, came out of the starting blocks in impressive fashion and were soon making their mark.

Greg McCabe got their first goal after just six minutes, and this heralded a dominant spell for the home team. Points from Rian O’Neill, Aidan Nugent, Tiarnan Kelly and Rory Grugan helped them a 1-7 to 0-3 lead, with Michael McKernan, Padraig Hampsey and Darragh Canavan responding for the Red Hands.

But they were rocked when Jason Duffy fired home a second goal for the Orchard county. That helped them into a 2-8 to 0-3 lead, before Darren McCurry responded for the All-Ireland champions.

It was clear that urgent action was required to stem the tide on the resumption and Tyrone responded in the manner anticipated. As a result, they were soon playing better and displaying a fluency that was missing previously.

Points courtesy of Niall Sludden and Kieran McGeary cvut the deficit. Nathan Donnelly also fired over as they kept just in touch in that third quarter. However, it was the final quarter that they really began applying the pressure.

Evidence of this was clear by the fact that a series of attacks resulted in frees which Cathal McShane converted. He hit six in total as Tyrone reduced the Armagh lead down to just four points, 2-12 to 0-14.

But then the melee changed everything, just when the Red Hands were pressing to try and aid further pressure on their opponents. The dismissal of the four players, alongside Greg McCabe of Armagh, followed as Armagh lifted the siege to win by six, 2-14 to 0-14.