McKenna Cup fixtures
January 13, 2012Monaghan v Down: St. Tiarnach's Park, Clones, Sunday January 15th @ 2.00pm.
Monaghan have their second outing in the Dr McKenna Cup this Sunday when they take all Down in Clones in a game that will pose further questions and further tests than those that were posed on Sunday last. Down will be keen to do well this year and the early indications from manager James McCartan are that they will be pushing for honours if their approach in the McKenna Cup is anything to go by and it could be the launching pad for his ambitions for 2012 as he fielded quite a strong side against Armagh last Sunday.
POWER NI DR. MC KENNA CUP.
Monaghan v Armagh: Morgan Athletic Grounds, Wednesday January 18th @ 8.00pm.
Monaghan are out in McKenna Cup action on Wednesday evening next January 18th when they travel to the Morgan Athletic Grounds for their final game in the league section of the competition against Armagh. In trying to assess that particular game it is somewhat difficult given that the outcome of Sunday's matches will have a big bearing on how important Wednesday's matches are although at this stage all games are important as preparation for the season ahead. Should Down win in Clones on Sunday they would be in pole position with a game against St. Mary's to come on Wednesday evening while Monaghan could still be in contention even if they lose against Down and take a result in Armagh. It could well come down to scoring averages to decide semi final places.
The two matches over the four days, against Down on Sunday and against Armagh on Wednesday night next gives Eamonn McEnaney a chance to give more players valuable game time and he is looking forward to that. "Yes it will give us a chance to give a better spread of game time to more players over the two days but at the same time that will also depend on who we have available to us. I expect Owen Lennon to take part in those games although whether he plays for a full game are not I just could not say at the moment and there are possibly one are two others who could feature. Christopher McGuinness is well on his way back and could get a run on one of the evenings, Mark Downey is also a possibility and Drew Wylie is recovering from an injury he suffered with Ballybay last year and being able to use them in matches like these will leave us able to keep assessing their progress. A lot of the lads who were involved on Sunday last will probably get a run again and that would mean that some may be getting more game time than others but we are trying to win these matches to help build confidence. We won the challenge match against Fermanagh, we defeated St Mary's last Sunday and we're looking to win both of these games now". Tweet
