HARTE IN ‘BRIGHTEN UP’ BLAST AT CRITICS

MICKEY Harte slammed Tyrone’s “sad” critics and urged them to “brighten up” after holding off Meath in an epic qualifier.

Harte’s Red Hands clung on for dear life at the end of extra-time after seeing a five-point lead cut to just one. And there was high drama at the death as Meath screamed for a free-in which would have levelled matters for a 10th time after an apparent foul on James Mcentee.

But ref Paddy Neilan waved it away and required a Garda escort off the field as Meath fans and Royals boss Andy Mcentee raged.

It was a precious win and, according to Harte, vindicated his counterattacking policy which notably came under fire from ex-skipper Sean Cavanagh.

Harte (above) said: “Some of the people spouting about that just seem to have an agenda which is negative and they just seem to be sad people.

“So maybe they should look in the mirror and brighten up a wee bit and look at the bright side of life.”

It was devastation for Meath who felt robbed.

Ref Neilan also frustrated home fans in the 7,049 crowd by giving Meath a free in the 64th minute instead of a penalty for a foul on the exciting Cillian O’sullivan (inset).

Cathal Mcshane’s equalising point for Tyrone which forced extra-time also came 36 seconds after the five minutes of allotted injury time had been played.