WINNING games by 10 points while playing well below your potential is a great place to be.
I tipped Monaghan to win Ulster this year and now, with just 70 minutes left to play, they know one big performance will see them achieve that.
Fermanagh will be really annoyed by the way the game finished, as the scoreline definitely flattered Monaghan and was hardly a true reflection of what type of game it was.
For the first half an hour they were the better team but as we look back, here are my top five talking points.
WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG FOR FERMANAGH?
Up until Ryan McCluskey’s sending off, Fermanagh were well in the game.
Monaghan may have looked comfortable but the Erne men had weathered their purple patch and it looked set to go down to the wire with only a goal between them.
The loss of McCluskey was massive. The whole Fermanagh game-plan has been built around him so his composure and leadership was badly missed. After the sending off Fermanagh were outscored 1-6 to 0-2. It shouldn’t have been a red – maybe a yellow for petulance.
MONAGHAN SYSTEM
Unsurprisingly Monaghan set out to limit the influence of Sean Quigley. Vinny Corey picked him up and Dessie Mone swept in front.
Fermanagh couldn’t get any quality ball to their full-forward line, testament to the positioning of the Farney defensive shape. Monaghan were also struggling to get their full forward line in the game so in a tactical move they withdrew McManus and put Kieran Hughes in at full forward. This changed the fluidity of Monaghan’s play as Fermanagh struggled to get to grips with his strength, power and finishing. The passes from brother Darren and Dessie Mone that led to his two scores were immense as they completely wiped out the Fermanagh defensive system. When you married this with the marauding runs of wing backs Dessie Mone and Karl O’Connell and the contribution of their bench (especially Eoin Duffy and Steven Gallegly) those are the big reasons why the course of the game swung in Monaghan’s favour.
FERMANAGH SYSTEM
Fermanagh went route one quite a bit in the first half but once they realised it wasn’t working they began to run the ball.
This reaped greater rewards typified by the scores kicked by Tomas Corrigan and the two by Ryan Jones. At the other end Ryan McCluskey played the sweeper role but specifically to double up on Conor McManus. His positioning and execution of this was brilliant in the first twenty minutes. Critically any time McManus got the ball both men were on top of him with aggressive but disciplined tackling. The Monaghan talisman only had one shot from play in the first half and was forced to come out the field to get on the ball. When Kieran Hughes went to full forward Fermanagh struggled to get to grips with him and some poor tackling let them down at times.
KEY MOMENT
The obvious one would be the sending off but had it stayed 15 v 15 for the remainder of the game, I don’t think Fermanagh would have won.
For me, Fermanagh lost their momentum in the last six minutes of the first half through two critical mistakes which led to Monaghan frees. On the attack, a point ahead, as Barry Mulrone approached the attacking ‘50’ indecision caused him to over carry. Monaghan counter-attacked. Up until that point Conor McManus hardly had touched the ball, but on this occasion McCloskey chose to play the space in front of Kieran Hughes who was closer to goal. As a result Eoin Donnelly doubled up with Marty O’Brien and gave away the cheap free. Again on the next Fermanagh attack, Donnelly kicked under pressure and his shot dropped short. Monaghan countered and another cheap free was conceded for a push on Kieran Hughes. In fairness Eoin Donnelly had a super game - albeit rash in the tackle -but the two mistakes he was involved in swung the momentum back in Monaghan’s favour, and the third mistake (turned over by McManus) dictated the margin of victory.
THE MANAGER
Malachy O’Rourke has proved himself as one of the finest managers in the game, and has a track record of taking every ounce of potential out of the teams he works with.
Fermanagh losing the Ulster Final replay to Armagh in 2008 being a perfect example. In his each of his three years he has taken Monaghan to the Ulster Final and a second title would really underpin what a great job he has done. The cynics might say, in two of those years, they beat Antrim, Fermanagh and Cavan (twice) to reach the final but nonetheless Monaghan football is in a great place at the minute and a large chunk of the credit must go to Malachy and his management team.
JUST when you think this year’s championship has been way too predictable, devoid of any upsets, Antrim take a most incredible scalp in the most bizarre of circumstances.
Nine points down, and with three key players dropped for lining out for their club the previous night, you could be forgiven for thinking Antrim football was about to slip even further into the doldrums. It’s hard to believe that the mercurial Ryan Murray wasn’t even due to start but an exhibition from the likes of him, Justin Crozier and Chris Kerr paved the way for Dermot McAleese to steal the limelight with impeccable timing. People will have varying opinions on whether the three lads should have played for their club or not but in my opinion it should have been taken out of their hands in the first place. The Inter-County game shouldn’t disrupt the club schedule but there are circumstances where common sense should prevail.
I spoke after the Fermanagh game about the number of quality players missing from the Antrim set-up and how we couldn’t afford to be without that level of pedigree. Perhaps today that just isn’t as relevant, and I firmly believe it is now time to move on without people who don’t want to be there and concentrate on those vibrant young players committed to the cause. Antrim are now in a position where they have a group of young committed players who have no hang ups, baggage or previous form of ill-discipline. I know some of these lads and they have a good mentality but critically the self belief in their own ability will have rocketed after Saturday’s victory. Paddy McBride, Ryan Murray, Dermot McAleese, Jack Dowling, Eoin Gallagher, Declan Lynch, Niall Delargy, Mickey Armstrong are all 22 or younger. Regardless of how far the saffron’s go in the qualifiers, the baton now needs to be handed over to this group of lads. Build a team around them and let them be the men to create a new culture and a stronger identity for Antrim football going forward.
