Darren Hughes says Tyrone have been unduly criticised since their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin last summer.

The Red Hands failed to show up at Croke Park on August 27th and slumped to a heavy twelve-point defeat but Monaghan midfielder Hughes points out that it's unfair to judge a team on the basis of one poor performance against the side that has won five of the last seven All-Irelands.

"Tyrone are getting a lot of flak but in the Ulster championship last year, there wasn't a team that laid a glove on them," the Scotstown clubman told The Irish News ahead of the Farney County's meeting with Mickey Harte's charges this weekend. "If you counted up their average winning margins up until they got to the semi-final against Dublin, Tyrone weren't doing too much wrong.

"They won the Ulster championship at a canter and it was probably to their detriment going to play Dublin in the semi-final because they hadn't been tested. After 15 minutes they didn't know where to go, but the criticism has been harsh on them.

"I've seen us getting criticised before when we've been winning Ulster championships … you do what you have to do to win. When Tyrone were shooting out the lights last summer, nobody could touch them. I don't know what more you can expect.

"Tyrone had one bad day at the office - anybody can get caught cold. Sure Dublin had us beat after 20 minutes too. It was the same thing. They get the run on you and that's just it.You're trying to devise different systems and changes to come up against them but they just keep coming at you. That's why they're the benchmark for us all. Everybody's on about the top three or four; it doesn't really matter unless you're in the top one."

Tweet

Most Read Stories