Tyrone prevailed in yesterday's All Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park in an ugly affair. It was fiesty and physical - complete with diving and unsavoury scenes.
There were three red cards in the game - and those watching can't have been impressed with the quality of football that was on show.
Joe Brolly certainly wasn't. In his weekly Sunday Independent column, Brolly labelled Tyrone's win as a 'defeat for the human spirit'.
It was typical Brolly, as the referee was also signalled out, before there were some kind words at the end:
The only thing one can say about Martin Duffy is that he is not as bad as his brother.
It's fair to say that the play-acting of Sean Cavanagh, and the number of incidents on both sides made this a 'soul destroying 80 minutes'.
The match was everything that was bad about modern football.
Some of the really good Tyrone lads like Mattie Donnelly, Justin McMahon and Peter Harte must cringe at what's happening to them.
Brolly did reserve special praise for Mayo though, after their impressive victory over Donegal - with Aidan O'Shea getting the majority of the praise:
I like Mayo. I like them a lot. Thank god for them yesterday because there was nothing else. As the race to the bottom continues the conversation in Croke Park was all about whether we'll have a game at all in a decade's time.
And about Aidan O'Shea, God bless him.
Never change Joe, never change
H/T Sunday Independent
