All-Ireland Football Championship Qualifying round 3B: Carlow v Monaghan (Saturday, Netwatch Cullen Park, 7pm)
MONAGHAN took the first steps on the road to redemption against Wexford last weekend and they should be confident of breaking into a jog this evening as they travel to Netwatch Cullen Park to take on Carlow in this Round 3B Qualifier.
It’s not the match that they wanted to be involved in this weekend, a shock Ulster semi-final loss to Down preventing them from taking on Tyrone in Clones tomorrow, but another win would be a further step towards rebuilding confidence as the latter stages of the All-Ireland series move into sight.
Yes, Wexford were a Division Four side, but a 18-point away win is always impressive regardless of the opposition. Carlow operated at the same level as the Model county in the League, but they are brimming with confidence after Qualifier wins over London and Leitrim and Cullen Park will be in a raucous mood for one of the county’s biggest ever Championship matches.
Turlough O’Brien’s side will have midfield powerhouse Brendan Murphy back from suspension to boost their chances of a huge upset but defender Chris Crowley will miss out having been sent off against Leitrim last week.
Carlow struggled in the first half of that game, and although they improved immeasurably in the second half of the 2-14 to 0-13 win, they will need to move up a number of levels to be in with even half a chance this evening.
Last year, Monaghan’s Ulster semi-final replay loss to Donegal was followed by a shock Qualifier exit at the hands of Longford a week later.
The fact that they had two weeks to recover from their provincial exit this season seems to have worked wonders as they were in ruthless form last Saturday.
Thirteen different players got on the scoresheet in the 3-23 to 1-11 win – and that was even with Conor McManus getting black-carded seven minutes before the break.
O’Rourke has kept faith with the same side, which means that nobody from a bench that contributed 1-9 has been able to force their way into the first 15.
Kieran Duffy (1-1), Conor McCarthy (0-4), Darren Freeman (0-3) and Dessie Ward (0-1) were the players behind that tally, while Darren Hughes is another player still left out despite a second-half cameo last week.
This will be a much firmer test for Monaghan. Carlow are a team on the up and they’ll relish taking on a big gun – their battling performance against Dublin in the Leinster Championship firm proof of that.
O’Brien’s side are sure to offer resistance, but it won’t be enough against a Monaghan side determined to show that they can still have a say in this year’s Championship.
Carlow: TBA
Monaghan: R Beggan; F Kelly, D Wylie, R Wylie; D Mone, C Walshe, K O'Connell; K Hughes, N McAdam; G Doogan, D Malone, S Carey; O Duffy, J McCarron, C McManus.
