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One regret I have from University:

Never, ever, ever, ever turn down the ride.

There will be plenty of Tuesday nights when you're sitting in the house and nobody wants to come near you, and you'd give anything to go back to those college days. You'll have plenty of time for sleeping when you're working. You'll never get those nights back that you were too tired/lazy/couldn't be arsed answering the phone/going out/she's cet. At that time of the night no-one would know and you'd feel a lot better in years to come that you made the most of it when the opportunity presented itself.

Should add that I'm no oil painting - as evidenced by many nights bored out of my head reminiscing about bygone days! 

[My honest opinion is that Hughes was going to receive a black card for the pull down on Colm Cavanagh as he was coming out of defence. Marty Duffy has clearly pulled his book out of his pocket as he walks over to Hughes and before Hughes touched McCann. Hughes had already received a yellow card so Yellow + Black = Red]

6.   The Tiernan McCann incident – now this is my opinion on it and again I will be as objective as possible. My honest opinion is that Hughes was going to receive a black card for the pull down on Colm Cavanagh as he was coming out of defence. Marty Duffy has clearly pulled his book out of his pocket as he walks over to Hughes and before Hughes touched McCann.  Hughes had already received a yellow card so Yellow + Black = Red. He was already going to be sent off before he touched Tiernan McCann. Until the referee’s report comes out we won’t know what he was sent off for.  What happened afterwards has been debated to the high heavens here. I don’t believe that Tiernan McCann is proud of his actions, in fact I suspect he will be embarrassed by them and it is something that will probably follow him around until he either does something spectacular or has a long and distinguished career with Tyrone (although seeing how the Philip Jordan/Marsden incident has had an effect of Jordan’s legacy, I can’t see this incident being forgotten about, and rightly so). It was a poor reflection on our games, not just in Tyrone, but all over Ireland and the world. Tiernan McCann will learn. However, and I am in no way justifying his actions or giving any standing to them, the unfortunate thing is, he was not the first and he most certainly won’t be the last to feign injury in the attempt to get an opposition player reprimanded – this is where the real problem lies.

Sorry, but that's not being objective that's imagining something that didn't happen. Duffy showed a Hughes a straight red card because of McCann's dive. Simple, nothing else to it. He did not produce a black or yellow. He may have been going to as the tackle on Cavanagh certainly warranted a yellow and Duffy might well put something else in his report but it was obvious on the television coverage that he couldn't wait to get the red card out when he saw McCann fall. An awful referee who should never get another match. Duffy has just as much reason to be embarrassed by the incident as Tiarnan McCann.

If it does come out that that is why Duffy sent him off you're right, Duffy should be embarrassed and if Hughes did get a straight red for striking McCann it will undoubtedly be rescinded.  I didn't see the colour of the card(s) that were shown and my immediate take on it was that it was a second yellow/black. I'll hold my hands up if that wasn't the case. I think we can agree though that Darren Hughes was going to be/should have been sent off whether he had touched McCann or not for his tackle on Colm Cavanagh (a second yellow/black).

I've been on this board a very long time but I've never felt the need to post before. Before saying anything though, I will admit to being a Tyrone man and a Tyrone supporter. I'm as prone to a rant as the next man, but I'm a firm believer in if you're going to rant, at least be aware of the facts and attempt to be objective in your analysis.

Some of the vitriol directed here at Tyrone is beyond the pale. It has gotten under my skin. Don't get me wrong, as a Tyrone man I am ashamed of some of the playacting that went on, but don't call me or anyone else from Tyrone "scum" because of what happened on a football pitch.  Growing up playing football, if a man hit you and you felt it you never let on, for fear that he would know he had hurt you –  the opposite now seems to be true.  There seems to be a dilution of the pride in oneself that was instilled in me as youngster to be hard and strong but also fair and sportsmanlike in all dealings, both on and off the pitch. However I think that in the last number of years the benefits of forgetting this facet of the games we all love has been lost in the win at all costs mentality that has filtered down through our games.

Yes Tyrone do seem to be the common denominator in these unsavoury incidents and I'm not denying that but to suggest that this is coached in to players is laughable. Do people actually think that Tyrone teams sit in the conference room in Garvaghey and watch a Powerpoint on what to say or do to opposition players to get a result? I'll allow people to come to their own conclusions on that. However, I do feel that the constant discussion about Tyrone's "dirty tricks" has helped perpetuate this notion and I fear that it may be too late to try and salvage the reputation of this Tyrone team as the Anti-Tyrone juggernaut has gathered pace.

Anyway, back to Saturday's game. Tyrone were the better team and on the balance of the game as a whole deserved to win. I don't think anyone will deny that.  Tyrone have surpassed all outsiders expectations this year and they must be congratulated for that, I think everyone, including myself had written them off for the season.

As for the media reporting of the match – I'd like to think that I've watched enough football and have a good understanding of the rules  to draw my own conclusions as to what happened in the match and don't need to rely on others to forge my opinions. That's all I'll say on that.

The issues arise when Tyrone have been subjected to a trial by media, social media and armchair fans.  I'm just going to state what happened in the game and what I feel should I have happened/did happen. Everyone has the right to disagree but please add more to retort  to my analysis than "sure you would say that, you're from Tyrone". As I said at the start – I will try to be objective.

1.   Darren Hughes connected with McAliskey (or maybe McCurry's) head with a knee. I think this was accidental though he may have been booked for this (not sure as I haven't watched the game again)

2.   Conor Meyler checked his run to run in to Kieran Hughes. Kieran Hughes also stepped out of his line to run in to Conor Meyler. By my reading of the incident, both parties were as guilty as one another. Meyler looked a little more clumsy by wrapping his arms around Hughes, whereas Hughes' experience told by keeping his arms out. I believe that this swayed the referee in to not giving a black card to Hughes. I feel his black card for Meyler was the correct call, although Hughes should also have received one.

3.   Paul Finlay tackled Sean Cavanagh with a closed fist shortly after coming on, connecting with his head in the process  – in my book that is a sending off. I think that Finlay was booked for the same incident.

4.   Paul Finlay later attempted to tackle Peter Harte, again with a closed fist. This time he caught Harte high. He was booked for the second time and sent off. It could easily have been a straight red but the same result applied. Correct Call.

5.   Ronan McNamee was spotted by the Umpire punching a Monaghan player – this was seen when Duffy was speaking to the umpire who showed a punching action. McNamee received a second yellow – this should have been red.

6.   The Tiernan McCann incident – now this is my opinion on it and again I will be as objective as possible. My honest opinion is that Hughes was going to receive a black card for the pull down on Colm Cavanagh as he was coming out of defence. Marty Duffy has clearly pulled his book out of his pocket as he walks over to Hughes and before Hughes touched McCann.  Hughes had already received a yellow card so Yellow + Black = Red. He was already going to be sent off before he touched Tiernan McCann. Until the referee's report comes out we won't know what he was sent off for.  What happened afterwards has been debated to the high heavens here. I don't believe that Tiernan McCann is proud of his actions, in fact I suspect he will be embarrassed by them and it is something that will probably follow him around until he either does something spectacular or has a long and distinguished career with Tyrone (although seeing how the Philip Jordan/Marsden incident has had an effect of Jordan's legacy, I can't see this incident being forgotten about, and rightly so). It was a poor reflection on our games, not just in Tyrone, but all over Ireland and the world. Tiernan McCann will learn. However, and I am in no way justifying his actions or giving any standing to them, the unfortunate thing is, he was not the first and he most certainly won't be the last to feign injury in the attempt to get an opposition player reprimanded – this is where the real problem lies.

There were other things that happened in the match, from both sides that frustrated me – players lying down, slowing down the clock (both teams), Kieran Hughes attempting to kick the ball out of a Tyrone player's hands (think it was Petey Harte) as he was about to take a free,  the constant flapping of arms at the referee (Cavanagh). The list goes on but I'm not going to pick apart the game any more. You all seen it for yourselves. Looking back through the different incidents in the match, there was always a constant niggle and everyone knew before the match that it was going to be a dogfight. Familiarity breeds contempt.

However, when all is said and done, we the supporters, must remember one thing. We are all one and the same. These are our games and we are rightly proud of them. Yes, things get heated in the course of a match and the fall out from it, but we should take our lead from the players. I have no doubt that come October/November Darren Hughes  and Tiernan McCann will share a drink and a laugh about the incident at the Allstars or some other event and let bygones be bygones and forget about the incident with the moniker that "that's football". It's important yes, but it's not life and death and some people need to remember that. You cannot tar an entire county and its people as "scum", "knackers" or whatever other derogatory term because of 70minutes of football. We're all better than that.