ESB ULSTER MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL. Monaghan v Armagh: Clones: Saturday July 4th @ 5.15pm. It's a double day out for Monaghan in Clones this Saturday as the county minors are also in action when they take on Armagh in the semi-final of the ESB sponsored Ulster Minor football championship to decide which of them will play Down in the provincial decider later this month. Monaghan travel to Clones on Saturday in an effort to first of all emulate the achievements of the county minor team last year in reaching the Ulster final and if they can achieve that on Saturday they will hope to go one better than in 2008 when they lost narrowly to Tyrone. Later they also lost out to Mayo in the county's first participation in the All Ireland minor football championship quarter-finals. Bernie Murray was bitterly disappointed in the aftermath of last year's Ulster minor championship final. He was disappointed first of all at losing the game but he was even more disappointed that Monaghan had not performed to the level that they had shown they could and a level that he knew they needed to perform to, if they were going to win the championship. He was disappointed too for his players who were suffering in the aftermath of losing a final that was in the balance for long periods, in fact right up to the final whistle. That disappointment can fuel Monaghan's efforts on Saturday as they try to break the county's 64 years Ulster minor championship famine. Monaghan booked their place in the semi-final with a thoroughly deserved victory over Derry in Celtic Park but they had to overcome a difficult period in the first half to get back on track. Once they got things organised in the second period with an early goal there was only going to be one result. Monaghan also go into Saturday's semi-final with four players who took part in last year's minor championship, centre back Pauric Boyle, midfielders Pete Dooney and Kieran Duffy and full forward Aaron McCarey. The experience that those players gained in that championship run and the experience that quite a number of the current Monaghan team gained with the county Vocational Schools squad along the work done by Paul O'Connor and Bernie Murray in particular, Monaghan can go into Saturday's game with a fair degree of confidence. There will though have to be wary in that Armagh defeated the reigning All Ireland minor football champions to reach the semi-final and they had to be at their best in the second-half against a Tyrone team that fought to the bitter end. Ultimately it was a second goal from a penalty by corner forward Robbie Tasker that wrapped up victory and Tasker will certainly be one to watch on Saturday as he has a nose for goal. Kevin Nugent got special mention for his qualities as a defender after that Tyrone game as did full back Ronan Finnegan and others to feature in dispatches along with Robbie Tasker were Gavin McParland and Conor King. Andy Murnin played a big role for Armagh in midfield but Monaghan have the ability to control that area through Pete Dooney and Kieran Duffy. With Padraig McGuirk and Pauric Boyle at full and centre back and players of the calibre of Cathal Crowe, Declan Burns and Ryan Courtney the Monaghan defence will be looked to, to limit the Armagh attack making the outcome hinge then on the quality and quantity of supply that Monaghan can get to their inside men. Daniel McKenna scored four points against Derry, Shane Coyle scored 1-3, Jack McCarron scored two points and Aaron McCarey one and Monaghan will seek to build on the finishing power they showed in that game particularly in the full forward line. Armagh manager Paul McShane feels that the battling qualities in his team can see them through because he believes they'll fight for everything and even Robbie Tasker scoring two penalties showed just the level of character there is in the team. An indication of how close it can be, and probably will be, on Saturday can be gauged from the fact that when these sides met earlier this season in the Ulster Minor football league they finished all square in Inniskeen with Monaghan battling back to take the lead in the final minutes only for a Eugene McVerry point in stoppage time to give the visitors a share of the spoils. Things have changed a little since that first league meeting with Armagh only using 8 of the players that lined out against Monaghan in the Ulster minor football league for their game against Tyrone in the championship while seven of the Monaghan team that started in Inniskeen in the league started against Derry back on May 24th. MONAGHAN TEAM MANAGER, Bernie Murray is looking forward to the challenge against Armagh but despite the fact that there had been quite a gap since the game against Derry on May 24th he was very positive that it had not been difficult to keep the concentration even though some of the team members were doing their Leaving Certificate examination. "Not at all, it wasn't a particularly difficult even though some of the lads were doing their Leaving Cert, but those who weren't doing examinations were able to continue training and we organised the training around the Leaving Certificate examination. Obviously we had to give the boys who were doing their exams a little bit of breathing space because the Leaving is very important and that was obviously their priority in those couple of weeks. Overall though, I'm very happy that we were able to get a lot of work done in the six weeks since we defeated Derry. We also played a couple of games among ourselves in training and we also had a match against Offaly so we feel that the boys are ticking over nicely and just coming into form at the right time". Bernie Murray though was a little bit concerned at one aspect of things in that club competitions had impacted somewhat on a number of players. "Yes, it's disappointing to have to say that some of the players are under pressure at senior level in their clubs over playing club matches but that is something we will just have to work with and deal with at the minute but obviously the players have a lot of commitment to their clubs but it's in trying to get the balance and as I said that is something that we will have to work with as we go forward. It came to a point though, where ultimately we had to rest a few players from training due to the fact that they had played games say the night before training and what we would be concerned about is player welfare but that just seems to be part of life at the minute". With the victory in Celtic Park and the fact that they are playing here in Clones, and now as part of a double bill with the senior team, which is a slice of good fortune, has to be a boost to their confidence in approaching this game. "Of course the players are looking forward to the game and being part of a double bill is certainly a boost. The players were under a certain amount of pressure going into the Derry game. Derry were written off, and the talk was that it would be relatively easy for Monaghan, so we had to counter that perception because that was never going to be the case. We feel overall that it was a good performance against Derry although there were periods when we were under pressure but we did enough to come away with a five points victory which was very satisfying. Obviously going head-to-head with at that stage either Armagh or Tyrone, it is no Armagh, was always going to be a very difficulty game and Armagh were very impressive in defeating Tyrone so we are under no illusions just what we are up against. The game is here as part of the double-header with the seniors making for a great occasion and a great Saturday evening's football and that's where young fellows at 17 or 18 years of age want to be, out there performing on the big occasion, an Ulster semi-final in Clones in front of a big crowd. I think there will be a really good atmosphere here and that's why these lads want to play football and get to that stage at 17 or 18 years of age". Obviously with Monaghan there on the double Bernie Murray will be hoping that the Monaghan supporters will come early and give the lads the boost that they deserve. "Yes, that is certainly very true and with the spread of clubs that is represented on the minor team we would expect a good turnout from nearly every club in the county as well as families and friends, so hopefully everybody will be in Clones at five o'clock. Support can make an awful difference and the players remarked to us after the Derry game that when they did get a bit of momentum in the second half, especially in the last 10 minutes, that the crowd really got behind them and that can be a huge boost for younger players to see that they have such support from right across the county". So where will Bernie Murray be looking for an improved performance from that which Monaghan put into the Derry game. "I suppose consistency is the one word that I would use because we started well in the first 8 or 10 minutes against Derry but then went off the pace a little which gave Derry a period of dominance for 10 minutes or so which we wouldn't be happy about. We have spoken to the players about that and that is something that we have been impressing on them, that you cannot take time out in a match. We have to be fully tuned in for the whole 60 minutes. Against Derry our concentration dropped for 10 or 15 minutes in the first half but that cannot happen again although at the same time you have to recognise and realise that the opposition is always going to have a period of dominance. You have to acknowledge that and work your way through that in a game". With Tyrone out of the championship having been defeated by Armagh did that put a different complexion on the minor championship with the recognised specialists at this level out of the race. "Possibly, but that there's no doubt that there's very little between any of the teams that are left whether it's Down, Armagh or Monaghan. We have played both Down and Armagh in the league and there is very little difference between any of us, so it's really a matter of who performs on the day. Hopefully we will but we are quietly confident that our boys will perform and do their stuff on the day. We are under no illusions though about Armagh because they won the Ulster league. Like ourselves they came through the league undefeated which means that we are the only two teams that are undefeated in competition in Ulster this year at minor level. We played each other in the first game in the minor league in Inniskeen on a Friday night under lights which was a very good game that ended in a draw. The two teams were very evenly matched that night but obviously both have undergone changes since that but I would expect that there will be very little in this game. We are just hoping that our boys will get across the line because it would be a huge boost for every body to get back to an Ulster final for the second year in a row". DOWN MANAGER Mark Turley was speaking in Clones on Sunday last following his side's victory over Donegal and while delighted to get through to the final he was very cautious in his assessment of the prospects facing his team. "Most people you would talk to would say that Armagh are certainties to get through to the final but I don't subscribe to that because Monaghan have a very good side. We played against them in the league and they have quite a number of players who won the Vocational Schools championship so they are there on merit. There is no way that Armagh will walk into the final because Monaghan will put up to Armagh every bit as much as Donegal put it up to us here today. It will be interesting to see but I can say it's great to be able to sit back and wait for the other finalists to come through having already got there ourselves but I would not be ruling Monaghan out". Tweet

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