Ulster Senior Football Championship preliminary round: Monaghan 1-20 Fermanagh 1-11
DESPITE racking up 1-20 and having 13 different scorers on the night, Monaghan boss Malachy O’Rourke said that his side wasn’t clinical enough at times in their win over Fermanagh.
Nineteen of their 21 scores came from play as they took advantage of the gaps that appeared in the tiring green ranks after half-time to cruise clear in the final quarter.
But up until that, it had been a fairly non-descript display from a side tipped by many to win the Ulster title for what would be the third time in five years.
Fermanagh native O’Rourke said he expected nothing less from his native county than a competitive first half but that the decision to push right up at half-time, as well as his extra options on the bench, told in the second period.
“The first half, in fairness, we always thought Fermanagh would be very competitive. We started off fairly well but they were competitive all over the field.
“I thought we were giving them too much space, they were coming up the field very easy and we were allowing them to slip the ball inside, and they won a few frees.
“I felt we had to push up more in the second half and put them under pressure, and I think that worked for us. We got a few crucial turnovers and we were able to capitalise on it when we got inside.
“In fairness to Fermanagh, they have a number of fellas missing through injury and whatever, it was tough to keep it going through the whole game. We were just delighted to run out winners in the end.”
Monaghan weren’t helped by the loss of Kieran Hughes to an early black card, and they struggled for the whole first half to deal with the excellent Eoin Donnelly.
They did eventually get to grips with it, and an 89 per cent success record on their own restarts allowed them to build plenty of pressure on the Fermanagh defence.
Owen Duffy (0-3), Dermot Malone and Dessie Mone all came off the bench to score, while defenders Fintan Kelly, Colin Walshe (0-2) and Neil McAdam supplemented the attack with points.
“I wasn’t aware of that,” said O’Rourke when he was informed 13 different players had scored, “though times we weren’t clinical enough either. We have an awful lot to work on.
“Owen Duffy came in and made a mark. He was unlucky not to start but he came in and that’s what you want from your subs, is to make an impact.
“There’s good competition for places and it’s great to get through now and have three weeks to prepare for Cavan.”
Breffni Park in mid-June will be an altogether different prospect for the Farneymen. They played out a drab 0-7 apiece draw in the League and traditionally, Cavan have been a team that Monaghan do not enjoy playing.
Darren Hughes won’t be fit but could potentially make a semi-final if his progress continues and Monaghan were to progress.
“It’s up in Breffni Park now so it’s going to be a real local derby. There’s never much between the teams and we know we’ll have to improve if we want to get through it.”