A strange atmosphere in Clones with I'd say more Donegal support that Monaghan fans which was sad to see. Not a surprise though given Monaghan's form. Sliver linings though from the performance and I was talking to someone before the game who was at Cloghan that morning and nearly all the players recovering from injury were out doing light training. Also Irwin has left the panel.
Monaghan did a lot right in this game. They moved the ball quicker. It was a better balanced line out. Carey is a better fit at half back than in the forwards, he has a tendency to slow down play when in the forwards. McCarron is best as an impact sub. Jack was never pacy but in his advancing years he has slowed down a bit more and though his close control is still amazing he's finding it tougher to find space. Carolan was very good yesterday. Works hard, brings pace and good positional awareness. O'Hanlon has been very ineffective in the past couple of games - recycling the ball rather than using his electrifying pace to punch holes or make space for other. A couple of times yesterday, his finishing was wonky and he defo needs to improve on that and one blind pass he made led to a Donegal score. But his goal was sensational and he caused havoc to Donegal. He needs to be this more consistently. Noticeably the team went more man to man yesterday and they were better defensively for it. Turn overs and technical fouls were less than another game this year but still room for improvement. Kelly didn't go off injured which is a plus.
Still a lot of problems - Jason McGee was mismatch with his size for anyone on him. Something that hopefully Lavelle can solve when he returns. We struggled hugely in the middle on kick outs. While turnovers were less, what ones Monaghan did make, killed them. Some kick passing from Monaghan was very shoddy. Undercooked passes going short. Garland was making excellent runs of the ball, but passes to him were not worthy of the run he made.
Replying To NORTHMEN: "A sad day to see Monaghans hard working players disowned by their own fans on a sunny day in a close to empty Clones."
Expecting a hammering that never came. Questions to be asked in Donegal camp rather than Monaghan i would say. Are Donegal just a winter team this year? time will tell