When Kieran Hughes came on against Tyrone in the second half in Croke Park, Hill 16 was hanging off his every move.
Monaghan men couldn’t understand why the team weren’t just letting the thing into him when he was a) free and/or b) eating defenders alive.
Tyrone folk were just shitting themselves every time the ball came anywhere near the big Scotstown man because he was, put simply, on it. He was big, he was aggressive and he seemed to be at one with the game.
Still shaking off injury, Hughes was hurtling himself all over headquarters, running Tyrone ragged without relent. You don’t get things by half measures when you get the Hughes brothers involved and, that day, Kieran was doing everything within his considerable power to rescue his county.
Back with his club, Hughes is as rampant as ever.
Scotstown saw off Carrickmacross in a one-score championship encounter when the Farney county lynchpins ran out 1-14 to 2-8 winners on Sunday.
The three-time champions had to fight from six points down with 1-3 from full forward Kieran Hughes inspiring the comeback. Conor McCarthy weighed in three points as well but the big number 14 was the show-stopper.
Hughes’ goal was outrageous.
Fetching a long high ball right into the square, he climbed up with his knee at head height with the full back, he hung in the air like an AFL professional and he plucked the most ooofff-inducing catch from the skies.
When he landed, he had the composure to round the ‘keeper and ram the ball into the roof of the net but the exhibition of high fielding is like nothing you’ll see for the rest of the year.
It was a thing of beauty.
