Five-time All Star Sean Cavanagh has questioned why his brother Colm Cavanagh was substituted at half-time during Tyrone’s Ulster SFC quarter-final defeat to Monaghan on Sunday.
Cavanagh, Tyrone’s only current All Star, was hauled off at the break for Declan McClure in what was believed to be an injury related substitution but his older brother Sean said that his presence was badly missed as Monaghan stepped up in the second-half and advanced to the Ulster semi-finals.
“Colm (going off) was a huge blow to the team,” he told Game On on RTÉ 2fm.
“Obviously Mickey thought a change was what was needed and maybe Declan McClure was going to bring a more attacking threat to the game,”
“I’ve seen Colm play more than anyone and I know he’s capable of playing a very attacking game.
“I felt in a game in which leaders were going to decide it, and ultimately it was Monaghan’s leaders who stood up in that second half.
“I felt Colm’s presence was badly missed in that team, not only for his ball-winning capabilities, but also the character and personality he has. He certainly would keep boys on their toes when he’s there.
“He’s a big voice in that team. I felt in a game of that stature, the longer he’d have been on, the better chance Tyrone would have had.
“When Connor McAliskey hit that 45 over and the clock ticks on to 64, 65 minutes, in those stages of the game you want guys who are going to be clever to make that right decision.
“Monaghan had that, they had guys who were clever enough to take the ball into tackles, invite frees which Conor McManus expertly kicked over.
“Colm does that in relation to Tyrone. In a few of those closing plays between the 65th and 71st minute Tyrone did have a number of turnovers. That sometimes comes with experience.
“When we needed cool heads Tyrone were maybe found a little bit lacking compared to what Monaghan had in their artillery.”
Tyrone manager Mickey Harte told SportsJOE after the match that a few of his players were suspect heading into the game and that he was hoping that they’d last longer than they did.
“We knew that our men who were carrying injuries were suspect as to whether they’d last the whole game or not,” said Harte.
“We hoped that they’d be able to acquit themselves for longer than they did, but they were just struggling with the pace of the game and the fact that they’d been hadn’t been training full-on for so long.
“They couldn’t give the best of themselves today, but that’s no fault of their own. That’s life, we have to roll up our sleeves now and try go on again down the other route.
“Ultimately, I think the goal and a point before half-time was the winning of the game for Monaghan, despite all else that went on. That four point swing was critical.”
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