Tyrone 0-18 Monaghan 0-14: Red Hands step up in class

He continued, ‘[McCann] went down and that was that, that was his reaction, he probably feels it paid off as I got the line.

Both Kerry and Dublin have secured their place in the All-Ireland semi-finals and on Saturday they will find out their opponents, when Tyrone face Monaghan and Mayo take on Donegal.

You have to hand it to Mickey Harte and his backroom team for consistently finding a way to get to the business end of the competition.

“It will give them incentive to get one over on us again”. They refused to be intimidated by Monaghan’s Ulster title success and stifled them all evening with a terrifically controlled display.

Darren Hughes in action for Monaghan against Tyrone’s Sean Cavanagh. The game grew increasingly spiteful late on as Monaghan chased down a Tyrone side that eventually won by four. Kerry are a reconstructed team that have already scaled the heights of September football while Tyrone are something else, yet winning as much as they ever have.

In Intermediate Glynn-Barntown and Kilanerin are the form teams and look destined to meet in the final, but as has been proven over the years this is the most competitive grade and the toughest one to win so we should be in for some cracking games in the next few weeks.

McManus and Monaghan were better in the second-half though so were Tyrone who powered on to lead by five points in the third quarter and by six in the closing minutes.

“It has been said that a good run in the Qualifiers can be good in terms of building momentum, playing games and working on things”. But we built up well to be here and now it’s just about taking the next step.

The positive vibes are in stark contrast to just months ago when they relinquished their Division One status in the National League. We are used to the negative tactics and blanket defences and it can sometimes (but rarely) be intriguing to watch teams break down defences with moments of individual brilliance.

From accusations of cynical play in an U21 All-Ireland decider against Tipperary to claims of sledging in a minor match against Donegal – among others – it’s not the first time Tyrone has been caught up in controversial headlines this year. This year they’re back under a new management having played two games in a Connaught championship that they overwhelmed the other team with and that is a problem for me coming into this match.