MONAGHAN manager Malachy O’Rourke is expecting “a battle” with bitter rivals Cavan on Sunday.
O’Rourke’s men make the trip to Breffni Park to face their neighbours as favourites but the experienced manager, who guided the county to Anglo-Celt glory in 2013, says only their best will be good enough to book an Ulster semi-final spot.
The atmosphere in Breffni Park on Sunday will be electric and O’Rourke doesn’t want his players to get too caught up in it, or in what the game will mean to fans on either side of the county line.
“You don’t want them to get too involved in that,” he said.
“You want to keep them focused on the jobs they have to do. It’s a local derby and in local derbies in any sport form goes out the window. It’s all on the day and who performs best.
“It’s about who reacts mentally to the crowd and to different things that happen. Sometimes games like this can take on a game of their own and that’s what we have to be prepared for.
“There’s no doubt that it is going to be a battle and no doubt Cavan are confident and looking forward to the game, but it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to.”
Both sides have had their moments in this derby over recent years. Cavan won the League meeting in 2013 but Monaghan took revenge in a tight Championship clash in Clones that summer.
The last meeting was in the McKenna Cup in January that ended in a 1-13 to 0-13 win for Cavan. It was a bad-tempered affair that boiled over in the second half after Gearoid McKiernan was sent off for a comment made to Drew Wylie.
“Two years ago we had a great victory against Meath in Clones and then the next League game was against Cavan up there and they gave us a heavy beating that night and they were by far the better team,” O’Rourke recalled.
“The last time we played them was the McKenna Cup.
“We are aware that Cavan have the ability to do that so we have to make sure that we have the right focus and we perform well.
“We feel that if we do that we’ll give ourselves a good chance, but if we don’t play as well as we possibly can it’ll be Cavan that’ll be going through.”
O’Rourke knows he has experienced campaigners in his side who should be able to cope with the atmosphere and expectation. He also has a batch of promising youngsters and he’ll need young legs and old heads on Sunday.
“One of the things we are conscious of is that there is an experienced core of players there – Vinny Corey, Owen Lennon, Paul Finlay, Dick Clerkin, Stephen Gollogly, Dessie Mone who have been about a long time,” said O’Rourke.
“We were aware that we needed a new batch of leaders coming through. Hopefully the boys will be there for another couple of years but they are going to move on eventually.
“We are very happy that there is a number of fellas who are coming through and developing really well. They have been exposed to a high level of football over the last couple of years – and a lot of Championship football – and that can only stand us in good stead.
“We have a nice mix there and hopefully it augurs well.”
He added: “The experienced fellas set a brilliant example,” he said.
“They are great role models and everyone who comes into the set up sees the standard there for them to measure up to – training, preparation, attitude and all that.
“Then again news faces coming in, boys who are mad keen to claim a place for themselves, pushes the older boys on and they have to step up their game again to make sure that they keep their places. It works both ways and that’s what we want to see.”
