DERRY forward Emmett McGuckin has accused Tyrone’s Cathal McCarron of deliberately trying to get him sent off during Sunday’s Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup clash at Owenbeg.
Afterwards, the Magherafelt clubman claimed McCarron’s actions “didn’t belong on a football field”, adding that the Tyrone substitute “was there to try and get me sent off”.
McGuckin picked up his first of two yellow cards on the cusp of half-time after an altercation with Tyrone full-back Padraig Hampsey.
In the second half, McCarron emerged as Hampsey’s replacement and shadowed McGuckin. Within seven minutes of the restart both players were booked for wrestling on the ground.
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“I thought the sending-off was harsh, especially the circumstances it happened,” said McGuckin.
“I will never say what another player did but what he did doesn’t belong on a football field.
“It was a decisive part of the game. It put a lot of pressure on the rest of the team.
“It was obvious when McCarron came out he was there to try and get me sent off. But it’s part of the game. You’ve just got to live with that and react better, I don’t know.
“There’s not much you can do about it, you just get on with it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
After consulting with his two umpires, who were within a couple of metres of the McCarron-McGuckin incident, referee Ciaran Brannigan issued a yellow card apiece, and the Derry player was dismissed for his second bookable offence.
“I had my hands out but, look, that’s part of football,” McGuckin added.
“If the referee makes a decision you just have to get on with it. I put the team under a bit of pressure; we went down to 14 men.”
Derry manager Damian Barton was equally miffed at the decision to send McGuckin off.
“A forward is surely trying to get space,” said Barton.
The Red Hands hit the front for the first time in the game four minutes after Derry were reduced to 14 men and went on to win by a point.
“For the first yellow card, it was nothing really,” McGuckin added. “But the referee is the man in charge.
“When you’re a full-forward, you’re going to have sticky markers.
“Everybody knows if a corner-back gets a yellow card, it’s hard for them to play on so I don’t know if I was the danger man or causing that much bother, or it was more Hampsey was on a yellow card and had to be brought off [at half-time].
“But, overall, I thought we played some good football but if we’d have kept 15 on the field, you don’t know what the result would have been.”
McGuckin will be available for tomorrow night’s final Section A game against Queen’s but Barton has already intimated that he will make wholesale changes.
“The first half against Tyrone was very good but there’s always room for improvement,” said McGuckin, now in his sixth season with the Derry seniors.
“It’s early days but there are encouraging signs and some good football played.
“Every manager brings their own thing. The boys who are in there now are excellent. They’re very straight-talking men and they’re trying to put their own spin on Derry football.
“All you can do is get behind them and everybody seems to be doing that.”
Already, Barton’s Derry team looks a bit more direct than previous sides. They’ve notched eight goals in their two McKenna Cup games [including three penalties], with full-forward duo McGuckin and Ryan Bell catching the eye.
“It’s different with a couple of big men in around the square,” McGuckin acknowledged.
“I’ll work hard and try and make the position my own… Ryan and me have played a fair bit together for a few years and we play well together, but there are plenty of boys who are capable of playing the same as Ryan and me. It’ll be hard-fought, the same as it is all over the field.
“I’m thankful to be playing the last two games; it’s up to me to work hard and keep that position. Whether I’m picked the next day, that’s up to Damian, Tony [Scullion] and the boys.
“Last week [against Antrim] and the first half [against Tyrone] there was more ball coming in a bit quicker. But it’s hard to get the ball into the full-forward line.
“Everybody knows the way the game is – we just have to live with whatever comes in.”
Tyrone were last night unavailable for comment.
