Allianz National Football League Division One relegation play-off: Monaghan v Galway (tomorrow, Clones, 3.45pm, live on TG4)
A DECADE ago (2011) was the last time Monaghan exited the top flight and relegation that year saw the county go into a tailspin which continued with a drop into Division Three the following year.
The appointment of Malachy O’Rourke as manager in 2013 was the catalyst for a swift about-turn and the Farneymen bounced back with successive promotions to regain their Division One status for the 2016 season.
They have been there ever since and are one of only three counties (Dublin and Kerry are the others) to have survived in Division One continuously over the last seven seasons.
That proud record is under threat tomorrow when the Farneymen host Padraig Joyce’s Galway who will be equally determined to protect their status among the country’s elite. The Tribesmen were up against it in Division One South and lost to Kerry (by 22 points) and Dublin (by four) but did record a win against a Roscommon side that finished bottom of the group.
Joyce was not best pleased when Monaghan (who played all their Division One North games away from Clones as punishment for a breach of the training ban) were awarded home advantage for tomorrow’s crucial clash.
“They are being rewarded for breaking a curfew and I find that unbelievable,” said the former Allstar forward after his side’s battling loss to Dublin in Tuam (one of two home games Galway played).
“It’s a joke, if you ask me, and I don’t know how Croke Park came up with that solution to play in Monaghan. We will play wherever it is on, but I think it disrespects the whole system and the whole Allianz League if you are going rewarding a county to get a home vital game when you broke the rules.”
Monaghan did break the rules and were forced to play Armagh in Enniskillen and lost by four points but battled back very impressively to draw with Donegal (in Ballybofey) and Tyrone in Omagh.
A couple more points over those two games and Monaghan could have been in a semi-final instead of a relegation battle but assistant-manager David McCague rejects any suggestion of bad luck. He says the players have to shoulder responsibility for previous results and make home advantage count tomorrow.
Scotstown clubman McCague explained how important it is for Monaghan to stay in Division One: “This year we have introduced a few younger players to Division One football and they want to sample more of it particularly in a more traditional season when there would be more games at that level.
“It (Division One football) is not even for our present players, it’s important for future players in Monaghan to see their county and club heroes playing high level football against top opposition. It’s something people in Monaghan have become accustomed to and it has been great for the promotion of Gaelic Games in the county. We want to keep the pattern going and reap the benefit of it for years to come.”
With Shane Walsh spearheading their attack, Galway will see it exactly the same way of course and McCague expects the Tribesmen to throw everything at the Farneymen tomorrow afternoon.
“They would be in any conversation about the top eight teams in Ireland,” he said.
“Individually and collectively they are very strong and their performances against Roscommon and Dublin were hugely impressive. They were undone the first day by an exceptional Kerry forward line and that could happen to any team.”
The stakes are high in a contender for game of the weekend. Relegation would be a huge blow for both counties in terms of pre-Championship confidence and future development and with three weeks’ to recover before their Ulster and Connacht openers, there’s nothing to be gained from either team holding back.
With a “healthy squad to pick from”, home field advantage and decent form behind them, Monaghan get the nod to save their Division One skins.
