One of the most disappointing aspects of Sunday’s harrowing 11-point loss to Derry, from a Tyrone perspective, was their lack of discipline.
It has been a theme for the Red Hands in 2022 and they’d four players sent off at the end of their League defeat to Armagh earlier in the season.
Skipper Padraig Hampsey was dimissed along with Peter Harte, Kieran McGeary and Michael McKernan for ‘contributing to a melee’ and Hampsey was also sent off in the defeat to Dublin in Omagh.
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Conor McKenna had his red card rescinded from the Fermanagh win in Brewster Park, but the Eglish native picked up a second yellow on Sunday for throwing the ball at Ethan Doherty late on.
Tyrone were already a man down at that stage as All-Star midfielder Brian Kennedy was shown a straight red for kicking out at Gareth McKinless in the first half.
Speaking on the RTÉ's The Sunday Game, former Kerry great Colm Cooper labelled Tyrone's ill-discipline as “petulance” and said the Red Hands will have to live with teams getting in their face as defending champions.
“There’s a bit of soul-searching to go on in Tyrone over the next couple of days, but you’ve to give huge credit to Derry,” said Cooper.
“We knew they were building something special. They were unlucky not to get promotion, but I don’t think anyone saw that performance coming in Omagh.
“(There was) nothing fortunate about their win, they were comprehensively better than Tyrone, dominated the game from start to finish.
“Derry were on top for most of the first half anyway, but there was a lack of discipline from Tyrone today and it crept into their game.
“Brian Kennedy. . . throws a kick. People might argue he doesn’t connect, but if the intent is there? He doesn’t even argue with the referee coming off.
“I think Tyrone are finding out the hard way, they are All-Ireland champions now, teams are coming for you and they’re going to test you and I don’t think, mentally, they weren’t ready for today. .
“Conor McKenna got stuck in another situation. Just petulance is what I call it. They were rattled and they were rattled in a number of ways.”
Meanwhile, former Tyrone captain Sean Cavanagh called the result “the most disappointing defeat for Tyrone that I can remember” in his column in Monday’s Irish Daily Star.
The three-time All-Ireland winner added that the Red Hands must hit the reset button if they are to regroup and reach the business end of the Championship.
“This was the most disappointing defeat for Tyrone that I can remember,” wrote Cavanagh.
“There are no complaints. Derry were miles better on the day. Not many players in white would have left that field thinking they performed anywhere near to an acceptable standard.
“I honestly can’t remember Tyrone being as flat in a championship match.
“It was strange how easily Derry were able to get under Tyrone’s skin.
“Tyrone should be used to that, but they were put off their game by Derry’s physicality and a little bit of the ‘in-your-face’ stuff.
“Last year, Tyrone went to Killarney in the league and were hammered out the gate by Kerry in conceding six goals in a 16-point defeat.
“That defeat led to a lot of soul-searching and plain speaking by the players and management. They managed to find the reset button and ended up claiming the All-Ireland.
This has to be another reset moment for Tyrone.”
The Moy man still feels that Tyrone have the potential to reach the All-Ireland quarter-finals and feels a high-profile draw against the likes of Armagh or Mayo could be the test they need.
“On the bright side, they are just two wins away from the All-Ireland quarter-finals — the same as Derry,” Cavanagh continued.
“But the qualifiers could be very tricky — even though there aren’t as many of them.
“The likes of Armagh and Mayo are in there. It is a road that carries no guarantees.
“Both of last year’s All-Ireland finalists are now going to have to negotiate the back-door route.
“But that might be what Tyrone, in particular, need. They might need a big game against an Armagh or Mayo to get them back on track.”
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