Ulster Minor Football Championship quarter-final: Cavan v Monaghan
(Sunday, Breffni Park, 12.15pm)
TALENTED Ulster Colleges winners dominate both line-ups for tomorrow’s Breffni Park curtainraiser.
Cavan are backboned by 10 players from the St Patrick’s, Cavan team that won the MacRory Cup, while Monaghan include 11 starters from the Our Lady’s, Castleblayney and Patrician, Carrickmacross sides that contested the MacLarnon Cup final.
So there is a lot of schoolboy talent on display and, if their recent meeting in the Ulster Minor Football League is anything to go by – it finished 2-16 to 2-10 to the Breffni County youngsters - fans should be in for an entertaining spectacle.
Monaghan manager Garrett Coyle is well aware that atmosphere and occasion could play a part, but he expects “attacking intent” from both sides tomorrow.
“There was a lot of attacking football on show in the Ulster league game,” he said.
“Both teams have attacking intent and want to play good football. It ran away from us in the last couple of minutes but it was a good battle and it bodes well for Sunday’s game.”
Cavan’s six-point success was the only win for either side in the Ulster Minor League –and that was hardly surprising given the amount of personnel on schools’ duty. We should get a much better idea of what these sides are capable of tomorrow and there are intriguing tussles all over the field.
Monaghan’s double-college Allstar Barry Kerr captains the side from midfield and he’ll come up against highly-rated Cavan youngster David Brady while the Breffnimen will also look for big performances from full-back Donal Monahan and corner-forward Thomas Edward Donohoe, who hit 2-3 in the MacRory Cup final.
“To have two schools in the MacLarnon final probably shows the level of football that Monaghan is at,” Coyle added.
“Training has gone well, but the one question only the players can answer is how they’ll perform on the day.
“With 15-20 minutes to go there could be 12-15,000 people in the ground and if Cavan are on top the crowd are going to be vocal and if we’re on top the Monaghan support will be backing us.
“You never know how they’ll react. Last week you saw an excellent Tyrone team struggle in the second half against Donegal so you just hope that the experience of playing on big days like the MacLarnon final will stand to the boys.”
Monaghan were Ulster champions two years ago, while Cavan last won this competition back in 2011. Coyle says he is well aware of the pedigree in the home side’s ranks and predicts a tight game that could be decided by a single mistake or a moment of brilliance.
“We’re fully aware that this will be a tough challenge for us but it’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to,” he said.
“Any team that wins the MacRory Cup has to beat a lot of good teams along the way so they’ve obviously got pedigree behind them. But I’m just hoping that our boys perform on the day and then the result will look after itself.
“In derby games the unexpected is going to happen too and it’s who reacts best on the day. I don’t think they have any out-and-out individuals, they are a good team, a settled team and I think it will be a close game.”
Cavan: F O’Rourke; P O'Reilly, D Monahan, L Fortune; D Raythorne, S Fortune, D Wilson; D Brady, C Brady; D Gannon, R O’Neill, S Moynagh; E Cooney, R Fitzpatrick, TE Donohoe
Monaghan: S Garland; E McCann, C Duffy, E McKearney; F Connolly, B Kerr, P McMahon; J Mealiff, P Finnan; J Walsh, S Finnegan, M Bannigan; R McDonald, F Hanratty, C Burns
