Football

Monaghan looking to get back on track against Longford

Malachy O&rsquo;Rourke&rsquo;s men will be out to regroup after their&nbsp;Ulster SFC&nbsp;semi-final replay defeat to Donegal last week<br />Picture by Philip Walsh&nbsp;
Malachy O’Rourke’s men will be out to regroup after their Ulster SFC semi-final replay defeat to Donegal last week
Picture by Philip Walsh 
Malachy O’Rourke’s men will be out to regroup after their Ulster SFC semi-final replay defeat to Donegal last week
Picture by Philip Walsh 

All-Ireland SFC Qualifying round 2B: Monaghan v Longford (tonight, Clones, 6.30pm)

The heady atmosphere of the Ulster Senior Football Championship is now finished for Monaghan this year following their one-point defeat to Donegal in last Saturday’s semi-final replay at Kingspan Breffni Park.

They must now switch their attention quickly and refocus their energy and ambition towards the less glamorous Qualifiers route. 

Today’s clash in Clones this evening is a real banana skin fixture as Longford come to town. It provides a stern test of character for this side in terms of whether they have it within themselves to bounce back from such a gut-wrenching defeat inside a week.

Monaghan have graced the last three Ulster finals alongside Donegal,  triumphing both last year and in 2013. Now, instead of the Farneymen preparing for their fourth provincial final on the spin, it is Donegal who are facing into a sixth successive showpiece. 

Malachy O’Rourke’s men are simply resigned to coping with the more mundane surroundings of the early stages of the Qualifiers system.  They also head into today’s game just six days after their narrow reverse to the Tir Chonaill men. 

This will be a third very competitive and demanding match on successive weekends – an issue that has drawn complaints from other counties about the six-day turnaround in the Qualifiers. 

That situation, however, is for debate at another with the reality being that Monaghan must be ready to dig deep again this evening if they are to keep their All-Ireland Championship hopes alive. 

They do battle with a Longford team who already have a Qualifiers victory under their belt over Ulster opponents having went to Newry a fortnight ago and defeated Down after extra-time. That victory will bolster Longford’s confidence ahead of their visit to St Tiernach’s Park. 

The Midlanders’ aim is to take the scalp of another Division One side as they attempt to show their more illustrious opponents the Championship exit door. 

“Longford will come to Clones full of life and determined to win it so we have to be really focused on our own game,” said Farney boss Malachy O’Rourke. 

“Focused on getting a good performance and a victory to get our Championship back on track because the boys have put in a lot of work over the last four years and we have to get it right tomorrow.”

Longford have had a couple of weeks to work on their tactical approach, while Monaghan come into this encounter with little time to recover from two gruelling matches. 

They will need to get off to a better start in this game than they did in either of their two meetings with Donegal and O’Rourke will be looking for his team to replicate their second half form during last Saturday’s Ulster semi-final over the entire match today. 

Longford will be aware that Conor McManus poses a major scoring threat and no doubt they will come with the central plan of limiting his influence. Last Saturday, though, O’Rourke introduced three substitutes who can also contribute in the scoring stakes to augment McManus’s efforts.

Jack McCarron fired over two excellent points and Conor Boyle also split the posts, while Conor McCarthy was very unlucky that he was denied a three-pointer by the woodwork having shown great skill in creating the chance. 

O’Rourke is unlikely to apply major surgery to the team, but there will probably be a number of changes as those who performed well from the bench last time out could 


be rewarded with starting positions. 

Monaghan are, however, a more experienced team than Longford and it is that Championship know-how gained over the last few years in which should give them a decisive edge. Should they put that edge to good use, they can win comfortably by five points and get their summer back on the rails.