Monaghan have been very impressive in their run in the qualifiers to date despite drawing the short straw of playing two of the Ulster sides Derry and Donegal who would have been fancied to reach at least the last 12 of this year's football championship.
The Farneymen also travelled to Ballybofey on Saturday to claim the scalp of a decent Donegal side and they put in their most impressive performance of this year's championship to win by a point.
I wondered had Monaghan just run out of steam when their league campaign faltered earlier in the season followed by the defeat to Fermanagh.
The Erne men have gone on to prove that that defeat was no fluke but Monaghan regrouped and are once again a real threat to anyone.
The fact they beat Derry without Paul Finlay and Gary McQuaid shows too that they have improving options on the bench which is vital if you want to have a serious tilt at the All-Ireland title.
I have been very impressed by Eoin Lennon in the middle of the field, he is a powerhouse and with Finlay, Rory Woods and Clerkin also in there winning ball Monaghan have a good platform to work from.
Tommy Freeman's form has been outstanding too.
If he isn't scoring his intelligent runs and lay-offs are creating opportunities for his team mates and Stephen Gollogly is also leading the three quarter line with some clever movement and scores.
The other big thing going the way of the Monaghan side is their sheer work rate, they would run all day and that alone makes them a handful.
The defence too has tightened up although there has to be a bit of concern at the way in which Donegal opened them up for goal chances they failed to take.
I hope Monaghan will avoid the other Ulster sides in the draw to make the last 12 as they will pose a real threat to any of the beaten finallists from the other provinces including Kerry.
Showing posts with label Monaghan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monaghan. Show all posts
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Sunday, 25 May 2008
No road back for Farneymen
Seamus McEnaney's Monaghan footballers will find it hard to recover from the body blow of losing to Fermanagh in the first round in Ulster.
The Farneymen looked low in confidence today and even when they closed the gap to just one point with a breeze at their back they allowed Fermanagh to steam ahead to a clear cut victory.
The element of surprise enjoyed by McEnaney's side last year is gone, like so many others before them they are finding that other sides can see them coming.
The over reliance of Tommy Freeman was cruelly exposed as Fermanagh simply denied the Monaghan full forward line any space to operate in.
And Monaghan also looked nervous, unable to deal with the expectation which has grown around this side after almost beating Kerry last year.
Players were arguing with the referee and they got involved in a lot of off the ball physical nonsense.
I was not impressed by one period where Ryan Keenan was being pulled, shouldered, squared up to all accompanied by a lot of verbal.
Five minutes later Keenan won the ball which led to the second goal and for all the silly provocation he endured five minutes earlier his marker was left for dead!
I thought that Monaghan's goose was finally cooked when even Paul Finlay got involved in the appeals to the referee over a fairly straightforward decision.
Gary McQuaid's actions which earned him a sending off were pathetic, there's no place for this in Gaelic football, it was as stupid as it was unwarranted.
He shouldn't kick a ball in county football for the rest of the season.
It will be tough for the Farneymen to come back from this.
Ulster is now gone and confidence is rock bottom, they looked mentally tired and unless they get a handy one in the first round of the qualifiers they will find it hard to get their season back on track.
The Farneymen looked low in confidence today and even when they closed the gap to just one point with a breeze at their back they allowed Fermanagh to steam ahead to a clear cut victory.
The element of surprise enjoyed by McEnaney's side last year is gone, like so many others before them they are finding that other sides can see them coming.
The over reliance of Tommy Freeman was cruelly exposed as Fermanagh simply denied the Monaghan full forward line any space to operate in.
And Monaghan also looked nervous, unable to deal with the expectation which has grown around this side after almost beating Kerry last year.
Players were arguing with the referee and they got involved in a lot of off the ball physical nonsense.
I was not impressed by one period where Ryan Keenan was being pulled, shouldered, squared up to all accompanied by a lot of verbal.
Five minutes later Keenan won the ball which led to the second goal and for all the silly provocation he endured five minutes earlier his marker was left for dead!
I thought that Monaghan's goose was finally cooked when even Paul Finlay got involved in the appeals to the referee over a fairly straightforward decision.
Gary McQuaid's actions which earned him a sending off were pathetic, there's no place for this in Gaelic football, it was as stupid as it was unwarranted.
He shouldn't kick a ball in county football for the rest of the season.
It will be tough for the Farneymen to come back from this.
Ulster is now gone and confidence is rock bottom, they looked mentally tired and unless they get a handy one in the first round of the qualifiers they will find it hard to get their season back on track.
Fermanagh a tough shower
The Ulster Football Championship did what it always does best today throwing up a surprise rather than a shock result with one of the sides many of us predicted would enjoy a run in this year's competition falling at the first hurdle.
Fermanagh simply mugged Monaghan today at Brewster Park and were good value for their four-point win.
Last year Monaghan surprised everyone with their swashbuckling brand of football reaching the Ulster final and almost taking Kerry out in last year's All-Ireland quarter final.
They carried that great form into the league but quietly Fermanagh boss Malachy O'Rourke was doing his homework and by employing a sweeper in front of the full back line he made sure that Monaghan's best forward Tommy Freeman hardly got a sniff of the action.
His midfield too of Marty McGrath and Mark Murphy won the crucial battle at centre field and while Fermanagh worked their socks off they eventually totally frustrated the Farneymen reducing them to a shadow of the team which lit up last year's Ulster Championship and which started its league campaign off in some style.
Mark Little and Ryan Keenan ran themselves into the ground at half forward while McBarron gave Fermanagh a good target on the edge of the square.
If there was one area I would be critical of the Fermanagh performance it was of their free taking.
They had no consistency in this crucial area all day and points win prizes. They squandered a lot of scoring chances which on another day will be the difference between winning and losing.
The winners of next week's game between Derry and Donegal will not look forward to playing the Erne men.
They are a bloody difficult shower to break down and if they can become a little more focussed in front of the posts they could take a bit of beating.
Fermanagh simply mugged Monaghan today at Brewster Park and were good value for their four-point win.
Last year Monaghan surprised everyone with their swashbuckling brand of football reaching the Ulster final and almost taking Kerry out in last year's All-Ireland quarter final.
They carried that great form into the league but quietly Fermanagh boss Malachy O'Rourke was doing his homework and by employing a sweeper in front of the full back line he made sure that Monaghan's best forward Tommy Freeman hardly got a sniff of the action.
His midfield too of Marty McGrath and Mark Murphy won the crucial battle at centre field and while Fermanagh worked their socks off they eventually totally frustrated the Farneymen reducing them to a shadow of the team which lit up last year's Ulster Championship and which started its league campaign off in some style.
Mark Little and Ryan Keenan ran themselves into the ground at half forward while McBarron gave Fermanagh a good target on the edge of the square.
If there was one area I would be critical of the Fermanagh performance it was of their free taking.
They had no consistency in this crucial area all day and points win prizes. They squandered a lot of scoring chances which on another day will be the difference between winning and losing.
The winners of next week's game between Derry and Donegal will not look forward to playing the Erne men.
They are a bloody difficult shower to break down and if they can become a little more focussed in front of the posts they could take a bit of beating.
Media black-outs a nonsense
Only the GAA could get away with doing the whole media black out thing.
Monaghan became the latest team to take the vow of silence and go all monastic on the media.
My view on all of this is that it's nonsense building up the so-called siege mentality and inculcating a belief among players that everyone's out to get them and as long as they hold firm together they will reach the Promised Land.
I don't think so!
Monaghan won't win the All-Ireland title this season not because there may be elements within the media who are hostile to them or that their players became a victim of the hype surrounding them before their league campaign crashed down to earth with a bump.
They won't win because they are not good enough and being silent about it ain't going to make any difference on the field of play.
Monaghan are a good side, they could go far in Ulster this year, and fifteen against 15 they are one of the best sides in the country.
But it's not a 15-man game any more and Monaghan just don't have the players on the bench to match Kerry and others on the big day.
The one thing I have noticed over the years about managers who have attacked the media is that none of them have written to them to complain when the same media are praising either them or their players for playing well.
There does need to be a balance in media coverage and over exposure will wear players out but we're either promoting our games or we're not and if we are serious we need as much media coverage as we can get.
Monaghan became the latest team to take the vow of silence and go all monastic on the media.
My view on all of this is that it's nonsense building up the so-called siege mentality and inculcating a belief among players that everyone's out to get them and as long as they hold firm together they will reach the Promised Land.
I don't think so!
Monaghan won't win the All-Ireland title this season not because there may be elements within the media who are hostile to them or that their players became a victim of the hype surrounding them before their league campaign crashed down to earth with a bump.
They won't win because they are not good enough and being silent about it ain't going to make any difference on the field of play.
Monaghan are a good side, they could go far in Ulster this year, and fifteen against 15 they are one of the best sides in the country.
But it's not a 15-man game any more and Monaghan just don't have the players on the bench to match Kerry and others on the big day.
The one thing I have noticed over the years about managers who have attacked the media is that none of them have written to them to complain when the same media are praising either them or their players for playing well.
There does need to be a balance in media coverage and over exposure will wear players out but we're either promoting our games or we're not and if we are serious we need as much media coverage as we can get.
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