Sounds like it was a creditable win against Wexford. Wasn't able to make it to Clones. How did we perform overall? Is Rory the answer at full-forward?

Goalkick (Monaghan) - Posts: 46 - 15/02/2009 17:15:17    207272

Yeah it was a good win but with all dues to Wexford if Monaghan are to push for promotion this year you need to be beating the likes of Wexford.Rory Woods needs to take goal chances when they come his way ,on saying this full foward could be his best position if he would stay there.We need a centre half back Gary Mc Eneany not fit for that positon maybe should be tried at corner back cause it is obvious he is not going to be taken of.Paddy Colfer their no.6 was playing centre half foward and everything was going through him it was not until Vinny Corry was taken out to mark him that Wexfords threat was lessened.Conor Mc Manus was brillant through out as was Darren Hughes and Finlay even though he had a few bad misses but his passing of the ball is a wonder to watch.Dermot Mc Ardle at corner back had a good game and so had Mark Downey

ruthless (Monaghan) - Posts: 594 - 15/02/2009 19:21:26    207409

Better performances on the day were Dermot Mc A and Darren Hughes but my man of the match would have to go to McManus. Workrate was phenomenal and to be able to kick 3 points from half back is something special while still keeping an eye on his defensive duties. He was like a seventh forward.

barney2 (Monaghan) - Posts: 104 - 15/02/2009 22:49:11    207683

Lads didn't make it up but were Wexford really that bad or did Monaghan just click and play very well on the day.
I witnessed the Armagh game and Wexford's fitness levels were just terrible compared to Armagh was it the same today?
Sounds like Mattie had a good game again though which is a good sign?

He is a class player!!

Nick (Wexford) - Posts: 1100 - 15/02/2009 23:11:47    207721

Monaghan were great in patches, Wexford were poor, no yellow cards for a change but as usual we were undone with an early goal

cmx (Monaghan) - Posts: 446 - 15/02/2009 23:51:45    207752

Forde was good alright but Wexford were far too reliant on him for the most part, while Monaghan had a good spread of scorers, this was the difference I think. Many say we're far too reliant on Tommy but he only scored 1-3 from 2-17 today. Monaghan were very good today though and kept pushing ahead of Wexford whenever a comeback looked on. The immediate response after Forde's early goal was encouraging. McManus was immense, I would have thought him better suited to the forwards but if he keeps performing like this why would you move him? As long as he isn't found wanting defensively, that's my only concern, but as far as going forward, he's superb. There were great performances all over the pitch and it was a great win. D Hughes and Strimmer were very good too.

mid-mon man (Monaghan) - Posts: 1680 - 16/02/2009 00:42:46    207783

Ye was a good performance overall.. Agree with the others there about conor bein man of the match. Deserved his standing ovation when he was takin off in the final minutes.

Monaghan always seemed to have the upper hand and stronger all over the field. Good to see Kieren Hughes have a good game, although some can be critical of him bein too young in fairness to him he didnt do to much wrong today and was out in front of his man a lot, very composed and used possesion well. Always good to see a youngster doin well!

Another man I thought done well there was Banty's nephew Gary, had a big role today in centre back and handled the pressure well. Didn't put a foot wrong at all!

Cashman (Monaghan) - Posts: 12 - 16/02/2009 00:46:40    207785

A good workmanlike performance given that we started with out the Mones or Gary McQuaid. Wouldn't agree with ruthless about Downey. I thought he was poor and kicked some bad wides. McManus was outstanding as was Dermot McArdle. Dessie and Damien really settled things when they came on and Jap Dick & Eoin really came to the fore in the last quarter. As for Rory he showed for a lot of ball but his timing seemed a bit out. He's still the best option we have at full forward but needs to look up a bit more. Guilty of giving away some good possession. I think the new rules suit our style of running football and in particular McManus' style of play.

bluemoon (Monaghan) - Posts: 105 - 16/02/2009 10:09:09    207870

Well monaghan did play well with mcmanus outstanding along with downey, hughes, mc ardle and rory. Wexford were very poor, without the fire power of mattie the score would of been alot less for the visitors. My only critisim is hanratty. He is still some what off the pace. He did make alot of runs but no scores and for a corner forward we need for him to be scoring. Agree with the comment about G mc enaney. He did play well, but no6 is not the position for him. Its great to see such competition for places. Damien freeman just making it into the 24 panel on sunday morning. Monaghan looked very fit, loads of lads supporting each other but the fact that monaghans trade mark(giving goals away so early in games) needs to be addressed by management. Armagh will punish alot more in early stages if monaghan are to be so relaxed in first quarters of games. I do think that rory woods is back were he belongs. Full forward is the spot for him, he did damage but was capable of alot more, just would like to see banty find a man to take hanners position.

Anyways it is onwards and upwards for monaghan and am looking forward to armagh game in fortnight and even more to the long summer we all hope to enjoy following the lads.

damonaghan (Monaghan) - Posts: 211 - 16/02/2009 10:20:44    207880

full forward is not the place for rory woods. i think he'd play better in centre half forward. surely there is somebody else on the panel who can play full forward????

thebing (Monaghan) - Posts: 57 - 16/02/2009 12:22:56    208034

Does anyone else think that vinny does not look comfortable at fullback. I no he is captain this year but he might have 2 get be moved back 2 full forward because i cant see him gettin a place in the back line come championship time unless they move mc manus into the forward line and even at that i think he would be lucky!!

whats people's opinion on this??

Ulster Man (National) - Posts: 13 - 16/02/2009 12:23:49    208038

Another good win but the team is still maddeningly inconsistent. They only scored 1 point in the first 15 mins and yet they had 11 more on the board by half time, wierd. The goal wasn't anybody's fault really, a shot for a point was blocked and just fell to Matty Forde who put on a lovely sidestep and finish. Hopefully we're using up all our unlucky goals int he early part of the year. The backs did well with McArdle showing form of old and Darren Hughes also showing well . Vinny was a bit at sea on Forde to begin with but improved as the game went on and made a few great storming runs when the game got tight. I think he's yet another half back rather than a full but someone's got to play full. Mc Manus was brilliant, he really is a class act but a forward out and put. Lennon did well but I thought Dick was poor and ran out of steam in the second half, made some poor decisions also. In the forwards, Hanratty had one his nightmare days and got worse as it went on, always looking to offload as soon as he got it, should have been off earlier. I think Rory is lost at full forward, hasn't the patience for standing on the edge of the square and is too valuable with his foot passing to be there full time. He came out a good bit in the second half and played well. Tommy was Tommy, kicked over all that came his way without ever breaking too much sweat. Downey wasn't great I thought, he won a free early on but didn't do much that I saw after that. Jap played well and again was involved in a lot of the scores one way or another, 2 shocker frees though from under the stand, hape to hope its only a blip. Banty allowed Wex to kick 12 short kickouts by my count without ever addressing the problem, I couldn't believe he was letting it go on, something needs to be done about this!! Gollogly was brought back to stop the ball that was coming into Forde, he was the only forward winning his own ball and they were working it to him from midfield, it worked as he was starved of ball and the Wex heads dropped. Its a trick that's been played by Banty before, he learned it from Micky Harte trying to stop Tommy. All in all another good win though and the spread of scores was great to see, I'd say maybe 7 or 8 scorers in all. Roll on Armagh, we can go for promotion if we beat them as Meath are looking very dodgy and we've Kildare & Cork at home. We'll have to overcome the slow starts though, against a really good team we could have been 10 points down after 15 mins on Sunday. By the way when did they change the Armagh game from Sat night to Sunday?

BG (Monaghan) - Posts: 116 - 16/02/2009 12:28:55    208047

As I've said before I'd like to see McManus move back to wing-forward for the championship and Vinny in the half-back line. He's at his best when he's in a position to run at the oppostion. But he could just as easily stay in the full-back line along with the two Mones with the half-back line being McQuaid and two of McManus/D Hughes/McGuigan. We have alot of options in the backs now, and Gary McEneaney has been doing well also, so it's good to see different players being used in the league and the team still winning. Depending on the rest of the league, we could see a very different back-line in the championship than what we would think now. It's great to see the competition for places!

mid-mon man (Monaghan) - Posts: 1680 - 16/02/2009 12:48:28    208073

I'd just like to make a small suggestion or request, hopefully without coming across as a pain. If you're going to submit a large post could you please use paragraphs, it's much simpler to read and you're not as easily turned off a post as you are when confronted with 20 to 30 continuous sentences.

monaghan_ultra (None) - Posts: 213 - 16/02/2009 13:47:45    208158

The quick kick out has us on the back foot the entire game, it was unreal watching it
We played well in bursts yesterday, loads to work to do especially not picking up breaking ball around the middle of the park, not being clinical enough in front of goal
oustandsing displays from
McManus,McArdle, Hughes

Hanratty ... I give up

We can only hope Cross win their semi final- Armagh will be tough tough game

Jacky08 (None) - Posts: 136 - 16/02/2009 14:06:16    208186

regards to downey look at the over all picture yesterday. Some people are on the same wave lenght as me. He did impress yet again yesterday. He got little ball yesterday and people will just look at the two missed shots. His passing in the first half was exceptional never gave a ball away i can recall 2 brilliant passes to mcmanus in the first half also a lovely punt up to tommy as well all three passes resulted in scores. For the little go forward ball he got he done very well. Hanratty is a disgrace in my opinion, he should worry about winning the ball instead of wondering will he get hurt. the only good thing is that he's used his brake pads that much there bound the fail soon

shaggylegend (Monaghan) - Posts: 1948 - 16/02/2009 14:11:02    208192

NOTE ULTRA USE OF PARAGRAPHS.

Fair enough it wasn't Hanratty's best day at the office, but he is a vital part of the squad. Yesterday he should have been replaced earlier, but as an attacker he can cause havoc, is a needed decoy for Tomas F and he deserves a place on the starting 15 for the rest of the League campaign.

The lifeless pitch yesterday did him no favours. He was much sharper in Brewster Park and we're going to see the best from him on the drier pitches in summer. He's gaining in strength and experience.

Turning to Dick Clerkin, another target for the knockers - what about that peach of a point he scored?

In all it's good to have an 8 point winning margin without playing particularly well. Conor McManus man of the match - additions to the panel working out very well.

MiseMuineachain (Monaghan) - Posts: 212 - 16/02/2009 15:19:15    208326

I agree with Mise, the ground didn't suit Hannraty, their was no bounce from the pitch at all.

He still turned his man when he got the ball into his hand and he showed some gravity defying balance when doing so.

He will be there for the year as he is the best we have for coming out to collect the low ball. It's what he does with it then that he has to improve on.

Farney (Monaghan) - Posts: 819 - 16/02/2009 15:49:25    208379

Good show, after a loose start.

Wexford were poor, with Forde the only real threat. Conor was teriffic, a real rolls royce display. Dermot McArdle did a sterling job as a stand-in full back; fielded some close proximity balls under pressure!! Dick's workrate worth to the team was underlined again and he took beaut of a point. Their kick out plan took Eoin's fielding out of the game and exposed his lack of contribution in other aspects of the game. Their resistance was poor, our forwards won ball at will. Was it me or did the pitch seem to get better as the game wore on? Maybe the players just got used to it? Ciaran Hughes, fair play to him, showed up well also.

Anytime (Dublin) - Posts: 93 - 16/02/2009 15:53:05    208386

Hve to agree with most of what is posted here re the game . Wexford were really poor and we played excellent in patches and poor other times . Conor Mc Manus was brilliant as was dermot mc ardle and darren hughes also . vinny very poor at full back and letting your man score 1-3 from play on you in a half not good . midfield was just ok and up front tommy , jap and woods done damage - hear woods done a bit of damage to the clontibret boys at training last tuesday nite . hanners very poor as was downey who only won 4-5 balls . Also think jinsky very lucky to get his palce now - what did he do in the past two games - yes he works hard and runs around the place but is there end product - last time we got a few scores from him was in casement park v derry 2 yrs ago . think mgt is rite to drop mc quaid , d freeman and dessie moen - These mens performances havnt been up to scratch lately and there should be no dead certs on the team . if we can bt armagh in 3 weeks then a top two position is a real possibility. See the div 3+4 reserve leagues are starting this sunday and div 1+2 reserves on March 15th with seniors starting on April 5th . Club championships starting in may and not finishing till october - Why start them so early . Championship should start in first wk in July

FrankAnnyalla (Monaghan) - Posts: 339 - 16/02/2009 17:20:41    208528