Oisín McConville couldn't resist reminding Mickey Harte about the comments he made at half-time of the Ulster senior football championship quarter-final yesterday between Monaghan and Tyrone at Healy Park in Omagh.
Harte had all but wrote Monaghan off at the interval, seeing no way back for Vinny Corey's men who went on to win the game by two points.
Tyrone led by five at half-time before Monaghan launched a second half comeback gradually chipping away at the 2021 All-Ireland champions lead.
It was a moment of magic from championship debutant Ryan O'Toole that took Monaghan to victory, as the 23-year-old scored a stunning goal deep into injury time with the Farney men trailing by a point.
Ryan O'Toole - your county wants to buy you a pint 💙🤍pic.twitter.com/0fDsIiSYCn
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 16, 2023
Tyrone had been on top in the first half, helped in no small part by a Darragh Canavan goal after ten minutes.
Harte, who recently led Louth to third in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League, managed Tyrone for eighteen years up until 2020 taking them to three All-Ireland senior football championship titles in that period.
He gave Monaghan effectively no chance of coming back into the game when speaking on BBC Northern Ireland's coverage at half-time.
He was joined on punditry duty by current Wicklow boss McConville and Michael Murphy.
"I wouldnt be as optimistic as these other lads here and thinking that monaghan are in a good place," he said before McConville pointed out that they had a chance playing with the wind in the second half.
"In with a chance but I don't think a wind is that important," Harte continued.
"I think the way Tyrone are playing, they're in control of this game. Monaghan have to fight for their lives to get a shot at goal. Tyrone are walking in there. They're playing one-twos, Tyrone are dominating this game."
"I don't see any way back for Monaghan."
In the end it was McConville who had the last laugh and he explained on The GAA Social podcast how he reminded Harte during the second-half about his comments.
"I kept glancing over at his face and the anxiety started when Monaghan got the first two scores of the second half," he said.
"I just remember that one of the things that he said at half-time was that Monaghan only had two points from play so I nudged him at one stage and said 'you do realise Tyrone only have two fisted points to show for the second half' and the look of digust but I left it with him."
I think when the game was ebbing and flowing you could see that Mickey Harte may have walked away from Tyrone but he's still Tyrone at heart."
Monaghan advance now to play Derry in the Ulster semi-final, while Tyrone head to the All-Ireland round-robin in May.
SEE ALSO: Why Monaghan Hero Walked Away From Inter-County GAA Last Year
