That’s got to hurt.
Nothing worked out for Tyrone against Dublin in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final. They were slow off the mark, they were mercilessly ripped open by their opponents, and it was just an ugly day all round for them.
Nothing was as ugly as Colm Cavanagh’s challenge on Brian Fenton in the first half of the game.
The Raheny club man Fenton was in typically dominant form in the early stages of the encounter, as he got on the ball time after time in the midfield section.
Tyrone were understandably determined to ruffle up the big man, in order to curb his influence on the game, but opposing midfielder Colm Cavanagh went a step too far in his attempts to do so.
The Moy club man was overzealous in his attempts to block down a Fenton shot, before he followed through with a lunging high boot that could have done some serious damage to Fenton.
The optics weren’t good for Cavanagh.
Fenton was initially in bits, but got up soon after and continued to dominate the game.
The Sunday Game team felt Cavanagh deserved a red card, and claimed there is no place for such actions in the game.
Colm O’Rourke was particularly outspoken in his criticism.
“It was very dangerous by Colm Cavanagh on Brian Fenton. That’s a deliberate kick into the stomach, and Brian Fenton is lucky he’s not seriously injured,” said the Meath man.
“That was a disgrace, there’s no place for that in the game. It was gratuitous violence,” added Joe Brolly.
In fairness to Cavangagh, it was a tackle that was completely out of character, but he will have to take the criticism on the chin.
