MICKEY HARTE YESTERDAY questioned the inconsistencies in refereeing after some key decisions went against Tyrone in the drawn Ulster SFC preliminary round tie against Down.
The Red Hand manager claimed he did not know the set of rules the game in Omagh was played under, venting particular anger over referee David Coldrick’s failure to issue a black card to Conor Maginn in the first half.
Maginn deliberately pulled down Mark Donnelly as he was attempting to score a goal after 23 minutes and although Tyrone were awarded a penalty, the player was allowed to stay on the field and scored a goal himself in the second half.
“We had a penalty in the first half where we neither got the advantage nor did the person who took the man down suffer any penalty,” said Harte.
“It’s inconsistencies again that happened and I am not talking about referees. It’s difficult to understand what set of rules was played to today — so someone needs to tell us here what’s going on because the rules that were applied today did not remotely resemble the rules we played to in the national league and McKenna Cup.”
Harte was unhappy David Coldrick did not use the new advantage rule, especially a few minutes from time when Kyle Coney kicked a wide whilst being fouled. He was also at a loss to explain the sudden turnaround in the second half when his team went from being seven points up to two points down inside an eight-minute spell.
“We were in control in the first half and squandered a lot of chances we probably could have been further ahead but I think we were comfortable enough at half time.
“It didn’t look like Down had the capacity to get the number of scores they ended up with, but just when it seemed like the game was in our control with the second goal we seemed to switch off and I don’t understand how that happened.
“Down’s changes worked for them they changed the whole dynamic of their team and they were a much more potent force in the second half.”
Down manager McCartan refused to lay any blame at the feet of Donal O’Hare, who missed a 21-yard free after 69 minutes which would have put Down three points up.
“Whether it (O’Hare’s miss) would have proved to be enough to be the winning of the game remains to be seen.
“He has been the mainstay of our attack for the last two years and only for him we might be playing in a lower division than we are now. If a pressure kick comes on next Saturday, he’ll be the man stepping up.”