Monaghan manager Malachy O'Rourke said a "wasteful" first half cost his side as they ran out four-point losers against Tyrone at Healy Park.
O'Rourke's side enjoyed plenty of possession and territory in the opening half, but could not convert that currency into scores and went into the dressing room trailing their hosts by 0-09 to 0-02.
"I suppose in the first half we probably had as much possession as Tyrone," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We were just disappointed we didn't penetrate enough, maybe even with the chances we got we weren't definite with our shots. We kicked a few short, we kicked a few wide and things like that.
"Overall the first half we were disappointed. We knew at half time we had to up our game if we were going to make a game of it," O'Rourke added.
After the break Monaghan made more of a game of it, but the quickfire dismissals of Fintan Kelly and Dermot Malone made a comeback unlikely.
"Losing the two boys, it was a case then of we could sink or swim," O'Rourke admitted.
"In fairness to the boys they put in a great shift 13 against 15. It wasn’t just a rearguard action, I thought we played some good football and carved out some good scoring opportunities.
"We pegged them back and had a chance to win the game but overall we gave Tyrone too big of a start and we paid for that."
Monaghan did cut the gap to three points approaching the final whistle, but the introduction of Sean Cavanagh swung the tie in the hosts' favour.
The Fermanagh native did not comment on the two dismissals, saying he was too far away to see what exactly had happened.
Overall he admitted it was a classic "game of two halves", although he added Tyrone may have taken their foot off the gas a bit given their lead.
"That probably came into the equation but definitely the way we battled back, we kept fighting to the end and we played some good football.
"There’s definitely positives to take from that" he said as his side now have a fortnight to prepare for a meeting with Roscommon.
