FootblockREF (Monaghan) - Posts: 569 - 10/01/2022 10:48:12    2394345

Is the structures in Monaghan changing to 12 senior 12 intermediate and 6 junior? Hearing rumours of it

monaghanman99 (Monaghan) - Posts: 49 - 10/01/2022 14:13:49    2394398

Who is the second choice goalkeeper for ye this year?

RHF (Cavan) - Posts: 883 - 10/01/2022 15:27:57    2394417

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1195 - 10/01/2022 15:51:05    2394421

reasonably impressed by what i saw vrs armagh last night. mccarthy got MOTM but it could've went to boyle or lavelle too. few other good performers. didnt see anything in terms of new talent really but some more cusp players starting to put their hands up

pity leonard went off so early. was looking forward to seeing him again.

free taking very poor and an over-reliance on beggan last night. i feel like beggan should be exclusively used for long range frees. 14 out field players and nobody able to take a free until jack came on...obviously nobodys too worried in the mckenna cup but enjoyable game nontheless and another outing this weekend

MalsBalls (Monaghan) - Posts: 221 - 19/01/2022 09:32:31    2395528

Good second half performance last night and esp from Mccarthy and Boyle got us back into the game and got rub of green in penalties got us over the line. Great to get another game for time of year and games in the legs of less experienced players. Hopefully injury to leonard not too bad looks a decent prospect.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1881 - 19/01/2022 09:48:38    2395533

I thought the 2nd half was decent last night. Hopefully that level of competitiveness at this time of year will serve us well in the league campaign in the coming weeks. It's no shame drawing against that Armagh team, who like ourselves should be pushing for an Ulster title this year. It's a shame about Leonard, however Lavelle gave a great account of himself when he came on. The main area for improvement is the back lines, hopefully that will happen in the coming weeks too.

SoNearYetSoFarney (Monaghan) - Posts: 56 - 19/01/2022 12:39:23    2395588

Very unfortunate with young Leonard's early injury last night. He looked to be in real trouble so hopefully all comes right for him. He looks an excellent prospect in midfield.

How did Armagh not win comfortably in normal time though? They played all the good football for most of the game and Monaghan looked very pedestrian for 3/4 of it. O'Neill and Grugan threatened to finish the contest a few times but hadn't the support down the home stretch.

In fairness to Lavelle and Drew, they added just enough strength around the middle to turn the tide. McCarthy, Jack and O'Connell provided the class. Good to see Davy Garland getting a prolonged outing even though things didn't go 100% his way. The few weeks training already showing on Conor Boyle who was very good at both ends of the pitch.

In fairness to management, getting the penalty takers (Carey and Garland) back on as subs just in time at the end was good going. Great to see a traffic jam heading to a midweek game in January, Athletic Grounds is a super venue for these type games

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1195 - 19/01/2022 15:30:07    2395625

Main thing obvious from our McKenna games so far …. we need a target man in FF line. When Jack came on he changed each game. D Garland and Walshe don't give us that & never will. If not playing Jack then
A Woods is the man…. Listed at corner forward last night but played half forward & MF. He can play anywhere I know but target man in FF line is where we need him most.
Preferably we should have both in there !
K Hughes is also a better alternative than our starters there last night.
What's the story with O'Hanlon ? …. Is he on the panel. We need him !

Shelbourne1 (Monaghan) - Posts: 406 - 19/01/2022 19:48:13    2395665

Good to win but familiar feeling watching that game. We were well in control nine points up and should have had game dead and buried but as on so many occasions in recent years seemed to wilt switch off when opposition rallied and were fortunate to win in the end. The substitutions didn't help and indiscipline giving away handy frees either. We look a decent outfit will give most sides a game but still lack ability to kill teams off when on top. Know above sounds harsh as was only mckenna cup but trends matter in sport.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1881 - 23/01/2022 09:23:03    2396013

Congrats Monaghan, ye seem to be in good form heading I to the league next week.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 23/01/2022 10:54:31    2396020

Not getting overly excited about last nights win, McKenna Cup is a platform to try out new players and get some game time under the belt. If it's not important when you get knocked out then it's not important if you win it, in my opinion. All that being said, you'd rather win a final than lose it.

Some lessons learned & potential issues that have fallen out of the 4 games.
Walshe in the forward line isn't good enough for club level never mind senior inter county, this is a wasted venture and has all the markings of designing a position for a "big name", management is about making these big calls, when the more senior players aren't willing to accept their time is up it's time to take the decision out of their hands. This could be said for Drew, Karl O'C and Fintan Kelly.

Theres potential of being an extremely good full back line but this would require a big call, dropping/moving Ryan W out of it in place of Hanratty. Duffy, Boyle, Hanratty is our best defensive 3. Ryan has been poor the past 2-3 seasons for club and county, taking the armband off him would have provided him with the opportunity to focus on his game and also allow the decision to drop him be much easier. How many times do we need to see the same situation, Ryan starts on the main opposition threat, gets 2-3 roastings and the switch is him and Boyler who nullifies the threat.

Darren is no longer a option in midfield, we need to hang our hat on lavelle and Kearns. Darren had his best performance last night in that 6/plus one position where he can stop the opposition attack dead with his physicality.

We need Kieran Hughes on the pitch! I seen most of the club games this year and by a long long way Kieran hughes is the best footballer in the county. Why is it he can perform/play week in, week out for club but we can't keep him on the pitch at county level? This is either a man management issue or a coaching issue, for Monaghan to be competitive we need all our big players for every game.

Finally, one big lose may come back to haunt Banty, O'Hanlon has opted out for whatever reason. This now means we are extremely reliant on Bannigan (who has been excellent) but is still very green at this level.

Blueblood4life (Monaghan) - Posts: 200 - 23/01/2022 12:08:52    2396034

mick2007 (Monaghan) - Posts: 570 - 23/01/2022 12:36:56    2396039

It's nice to win a Mc Kenna up but I think at best a run the Quater Finals will be a good season, nothing last night really says otherwise and I think that would be a good season for monaghan and the playing pool they have currently. It's all very familiar Re certain players year on year, the team will pick itself.

222 (UK) - Posts: 845 - 23/01/2022 16:40:52    2396082

A good performance in tough conditions today. Despite the conditions I felt we could have been a little more committed in our shooting at times. At this very early stage of the year we were more than a match for the All Ireland Champions in their back yard though. And it was great to see Beggan finally get a point from play for Monaghan.

SoNearYetSoFarney (Monaghan) - Posts: 56 - 30/01/2022 18:11:06    2397258

Should have won that game today. Had the chances and tyrone looked like a side with less work done. However we were also lucky to get away with a point esp with free given on beggan for tyrone point. Atrocious conditions so was important to get something I guess and you couldn't fault the effort. One continuing worry is dependence on mcmanus and beggan for scores when games are in the fire. Of the other forwards only mccarron shows willingness to take on responsibility although he was well marked today.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1881 - 30/01/2022 18:24:35    2397264

SoNearYetSoFarney (Monaghan) - Posts: 56 - 30/01/2022 19:10:22    2397274

No ifs, buts or maybes, we should have won that game today.. we didn't play overly well the fact Beggan was our top scorer speaks volumes.. jack had a nightmare.. Tyrone were there for the taking.. bit like the dubs last night and kerry today these 3 teams were spluttering early doors..given the way we set up no team will ever hammer us but again to push on and win things we need to evolve our tactics which im not sure we have the players to do so..again lack of belief cost us the win today.. as good as Beggan is again when the pressure came on at the end……..fully expected us to win today given the fact that Tyrone aren't long back training and only back a few weeks from their holiday in America..on a positive side it's a point gained and I would fully expect us to beat Mayo at home next week..

mick2007 (Monaghan) - Posts: 570 - 30/01/2022 19:13:01    2397276

Very poor game today which Monaghanshould be disappointed they didn't win, poor decision making at the end. Boyle had a chance for to take a shot with a couple of minutes to go and passed it and the ball then lost. He obviously didn't feel confidentbut went for that shot at the end. Would of been worse to come out with a loss, hopefully a open game against Mayo.

Anyone know were Stephen O Hanlon is there year ? Missing his burst of pace and unpredictability.

Kella92 (Monaghan) - Posts: 4 - 30/01/2022 20:35:01    2397311

Great to see McManus get that score after Tyrones antics for the time he was on the pitch. A savage player.

tiobraid (Tipperary) - Posts: 4119 - 31/01/2022 09:14:47    2397356