Pádraig Hampsey was hopeful on Monday that he and three Tyrone teammates would be shown leniency for the red cards which they were given against Armagh earlier this month.
Hampsey, along with Peter Harte, Michael McKernan, and Kieran McGeary, were all sent off by referee David Gough following a melee. Armagh's Greg McCabe was also shown a red card following the incident.
At a Croke Park hearing on Monday evening, the Tyrone players hoped to have the red cards overturned. However, as reported by BBC Northern Ireland, the dismissals have been upheld.
Pádraig Hampsey: Tyrone 'not proud' of melee
Speaking to the media on Monday, Hampsey said David Gough did not tell him why he was being shown a red card.
"Well to be honest I was just shown the red card and pointed towards the sideline, I wasn’t given an explanation as to what I was getting sent off for," he said.
"I think one of the other lads was done for striking so, that’s what they’ve been put down for.
"I suppose it's a derby game with two Ulster teams, two neighbouring counties so I just feel that things maybe got out of control. It's one we're not proud of ourselves as a county and as players but look, I don't think there was much really in it. For my own self, there wasn't much in it to be honest. But look, it happened and we're not proud of what happened."
14 February 2022. In attendance at the In the Zone - The Official Protein Cookies & Biscuits of the GAA & GPA Launch event at Croke Park in Dublin is Padraig Hampsey of Tyrone. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Asked if the red cards could be for the greater good, and that melees like the one in that game might be less likely to happen as a result, Hampsey replied:
"Well I suppose if you look at it that way, you could be right but I suppose we just probably feel that it’s a hard one to take where Tyrone ended up getting four red cards and Armagh ended up getting one. So we probably feel a bit done that way, but it is what it is and David has seen what he seen and his linesmen and umpires have seen what they seen."
Tyrone face Kildare this weekend with just a point on the board from two games in the National League. They are down five players from the panel which won last year's All-Ireland title. Tiernan McCann, Ronan O'Neill, Mark Bradley, Michael Cassidy and Hugh Pat McGeary have all stepped away from inter-county football.
"Obviously I would have had a close relationship with those lads in general anyway, so we sort of had a few conversations," said Hampsey.
"But the lads already had their minds made up and the commitment that they had given to the Tyrone jersey over the last number of years has been second to none.
"I suppose in their own heads, their time was probably up and it was time for them to step away, and hats off to them you have to let them go their own way. It’s tough to let them lads go because they played a huge part in getting us to where we are today, and they are missed around the panel, even today.
"The commitment and sacrifice is massive and you can see where lads aren’t getting the playing time, their reasons behind stepping away so you can’t fault them. There’s maybe bigger things outside of football whenever you are not getting much playing time, so you can’t blame them for that."
East Coast Bakehouse have announced the launch of a new Irish Protein brand called In the Zone, created in partnership with the GAA and GPA as The Official Players Choice.
Featured image: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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