The return of Ciaran McFaul
AFTER missing last year’s Championship run, the Maghera man was back in red and white on Saturday for the last 20 minutes after replacing Padraig Cassidy.
“Ciaran is a great player,” said Rory Gallagher.
“He’s a real competitor and he’s really, really focussed. He arrived back in phenomenal shape and we’re just delighted. I think it’s great for Ciaran to be part of our group as well.”
Like a woman who smells a cake burning…
WE almost saw a re-run of the famous goal scored by the Kerry genius Mikey Sheehy in the 1978 All-Ireland final between Kerry and Dublin. Back then Kingdom ironman Jack O’Se shrugged off a full-blooded shoulder charge and played the ball forward but it went through to Dublin goalkeeper Paddy Cullen. Cullen came out with the ball but was then penalised as he passed to a defender.
He was trotting back towards his posts when he saw Sheehy grabbed the ball and setting it down to take free.
The legendary reporter Con Houlihan wrote that Cullen: “Dashed back towards his goal like a woman who smells a cake burning” but the ball drifted over his head and into the net. Kerry won by 17 points.
Late on Saturday, Stephen O’Hanlon had a chance to do something similar for Monaghan when an Odhran Lynch kickout went straight to him. Like Cullen 45 years’ ago, Lynch was scrambling back as O’Hanlon went for a chip. Luckily for him the ball went wide.
Derry’s Achilles Heel?
THE route one high ball into the square paid off once again for the Oak Leaf opponents. Gary Mohan sent a Hail Mary dropping into the square and it broke to Ryan Wylie who hammered a shot off the crossbar before Karl Gallagher forced the rebound into the net. However, Monaghan had tried the tactic before and, with Conor Glass outstanding, Derry looked solid in defence.
The goalkeepers’ union
RORY Gallagher and his brother Ronan had done their homework on Rory Beggan’s kickouts. This Derry team works on negating their opponents’ strengths and they stationed their own ’keeper Odhran Lynch out the field for the Monaghan netminder’s restarts. He gobbled up three of them. Lynch had scored from play against Fermanagh and he got another point on Saturday.
The Shane Show
NINE points against Monaghan brought the Slaughtneil forward’s tally up to 2-14 for the Championship season so far after he began with 2-5 against Fermanagh.
