Monaghan’s senior footballers are back in league action on Sunday, with the county’s minors and ladies also in action over the weekend.
Allianz National Football League Division One
Kerry v Monaghan, Sunday, 3.00, Tralee
The penultimate round of the 2015 NFL sees Monaghan take on All-Ireland champions Kerry at Austin Stack Park on Sunday.
Wins over Tyrone, Donegal and Derry, along with defeats against Cork and Mayo, have Monaghan on six points going into the last two rounds; both of which will really test their credentials against the 2013 and 2014 All-Ireland winners. Kerry claimed the Sam Maguire Cup yet again in Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s first year in charge and despite being without a number of key players this spring, they have still been very competitive. The Kingdom lost their opener against Mayo, but bounced back with wins over Derry and Dublin and although they put in a tame performance in Cork, a narrow defeat of Donegal has them in a share of second place along with Monaghan and Mayo. Colm Cooper, James O’Donoghue and Aidan O’Mahony have yet to feature in 2015 as they continue to recover from long-term injuries, while Declan O’Sullivan has retired, although Tommy Walsh is back after a number of years in Australia and Paul Galvin recently made a surprise return to the panel more than 12 months on from his retirement.
Monaghan haven’t beaten Kerry since a 1987 league game, although they have had some famous clashes, including a 1985 All-Ireland semi-final that went to a replay and 2007 and 2008 knock-out championship clashes at Croke Park; both of which saw the Munster side escape in thrilling contests. A narrow defeat in Killarney in 2010 still resulted in Monaghan just avoiding relegation from Division One, but they dropped out of the top flight a year later after again losing to Kerry, this time in round six at Inniskeen.
The Monaghan team named shows two changes from the one that defeated Derry, with Kieran Duffy returning in place of Conor Boyle, who limped off in Clones, and Owen Duffy replacing Thomas Kerr. Pádraig Donaghy is the latest addition to Malachy O’Rourke’s absentees due to an Achilles injury. Kerry have three changes from the win over Donegal, including in goals, where Brian Kelly returns from injury to make his first appearance since last September’s All-Ireland final, with Brendan Kealy returning to the bench. Injuries are set to keep current All-Star defender Paul Murphy and free-taking star Bryan Sheehan out, however, with Shane Enright and first-time NFL starter Alan Fitzgerald taking their places. Marc Ó Sé and Darran O’Sullivan are included in the list of substitutes for the first time this year.
Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Kieran Duffy, Drew Wylie, Ryan Wylie; Fintan Kelly, Vincent Corey, Karl O’Connell; Neil McAdam, Darren Hughes; Dessie Mone, Paul Finlay, Owen Duffy; Dermot Malone, Kieran Hughes, Conor McManus (Capt.).
Subs: Enda Duffy, John McCarron, Paddy McGuigan, Ryan McAnespie, Conor Boyle, Dick Clerkin, Shane Carey, Thomas Kerr, Christopher McKenna, Daniel McKenna, Paul Meegan.
Kerry: Brian Kelly; Pa Kilkenny, Mark Griffin, Shane Enright; Jonathan Lyne, Peter Crowley, Killian Young; Anthony Maher, David Moran; Stephen O’Brien, Alan Fitzgerald, Johnny Buckley; Paul Geaney, Kieran Donaghy (Capt.), Barry John Keane.
Subs: Brendan Kealy, Tommy Walsh, Fionn Fitzgerald, Pádraig O’Connor, Kieran O’Leary, Paul O’Donoghue, Daithí Casey, Philip O’Connor, Jack McGuire, Marc Ó Sé, Darran O’Sullivan.
Ulster Minor Football League Group A
Monaghan v Armagh, Saturday, 12.00, Clones
Monaghan will attempt to get off the mark in this year’s Ulster MFL when they host Armagh at St. Tiarnach’s Park on Saturday.
Monaghan lost a defensive battle with Down last weekend, while Armagh finished on the right side of a similarly close but much higher scoring game against Cavan. Monaghan should be able to recall their Our Lady’s, Castleblayney contingent including Micheál Bannigan, Barry Kerr and Conor Marray, as well as the likes of David and Shane Garland and Conor Duffy.
Ladies National Football League Division One
Monaghan v Galway, Sunday, 2.00, Magheracloone
Monaghan’s senior ladies will attempt to stay top of their league when they take on Galway at the redeveloped Magheracloone pitch on Sunday.
Wins over Cork, Mayo, Laois and Tyrone have Monaghan ahead of the All-Ireland champions on score difference, which is great progress after they slumped to an opening-round defeat in Dublin. Galway are just two points behind in third, with their only defeat so far coming by the narrowest of margins against Cork, while they have had convincing wins against Laois, Tyrone and Kerry, as well as a draw with Dublin.
Cathriona McConnell, who hit 3-3 to sink Mayo, has been in prolific form for Monaghan, who will also be looking to Cora and Sharon Courtney, Caoimhe Mohan, Ciara and Aoife McAnespie, Laura McEnaney and Gráinne McNally to lead the way. Galway will be hoping for big performances from Tracey Leonard, Aoibheann Daly, Ger Conneally and Annette Clarke.
Ulster Minor Hurling League Division Two
Cavan v Monaghan, Tuesday, 12.00, Kingspan Breffni Park 3G pitch
Monaghan will attempt to return to winning ways in the Ulster MHL when they travel to Cavan for their refixed game on Tuesday. This was due to have been played last Saturday, but was called off at short notice as Monaghan had been expecting to play on the main pitch at Breffni Park and didn’t have suitable footwear to line out on the 3G pitch.
Monaghan have experienced contrasting fortunes in their two games to date – beating Louth before falling to a heavy defeat against Tyrone – while defending champions Cavan have yet to play their first game of the competition.
Eirgrid Ulster Under-21 Football Championship Semi-Final
Monaghan v Donegal, Wednesday, 8.00, Omagh
Monaghan contest an Ulster U-21 FC semi-final against Donegal under Healy Park’s floodlights on Wednesday night.
Monaghan’s long build-up for this championship saw them take part in the Hastings Cup, where they lost a shield semi-final against Kerry, and Cremartin’s Shamrock Cup, where they were edged out by Tyrone in the final. They then saw off Derry in their Ulster quarter-final on the same night that Donegal hit a late winning goal from Ryan McHugh to pip Cavan; gaining some revenge for a couple of recent Ulster final defeats and ending their opponents’ bid for a fifth consecutive provincial title.
Monaghan can call on two players featuring regularly for the senior team in Ryan Wylie and Ryan McAnespie. Other key figures include stars from the 2013 Ulster minor champions and the previous year’s runners-up, such as Conor McCarthy, Brian Greenan, Dessie Ward, Kevin Loughran, Fergal Malone, Fearghal McMahon, Pádraic Keenan, Fergal McGeough and Dónal Meegan, who impressed off the bench last time out. 2014 Young Footballer of the Year Ryan McHugh is the main man for Donegal, with good support from the likes of Ciarán Thompson, Eoin McHugh, Darach O’Connor and Hugh McFadden.
There are a number of Platinum Tanks Reserve Football League games over the weekend. Division 1A joint-leaders Clontibret and Truagh go head-to-head on Sunday, while Scotstown and Latton host Cremartin and Magheracloone respectively. Emyvale host Aughnamullen under lights in Division 1B on Friday night, while Sunday’s games are Ballybay v Monaghan Harps and Castleblayney v Tyholland. The top two in Division 2A, Doohamlet and Donaghmoyne, clash on Sunday, while Drumhowan face Seán McDermotts and Éire Óg meet Rockcorry. Blackhill can move clear at the top of Division 2B if they can take a result under Corduff’s floodlights on Friday night, while Killanny make the short trip to Inniskeen on Sunday. Aghabog host Toome in Division Three on Sunday, while table-toppers Clones face neighbours Killeevan on Wednesday evening.
Round three of the Minor Football League Division One takes place on Tuesday evening. Front runners St. Patrick’s travel to Magheracloone, holders Donaghmoyne travel north to Truagh, Scotstown head in the opposite direction to Carrickmacross and Monaghan Harps make the much shorter trip to Threemilehouse to play Seán McDermotts. The MFL Division Two gets underway with games between Toome and Cremartin, Clones and Aughnamullen, Emyvale and Na Mullaí Sarsfields (Éire Óg and Killeevan) and Corduff and Inniskeen. Division Three also starts, where the fixtures are Castleblayney v Tyholland, Rockcorry v Latton, Emerald Sarsfields (Blackhill & Oram) v Killanny and Patrick Emmets (Aghabog and Currin) v Doohamlet.
The Gerry’s Prepared Veg. Under-14 Football Leagues continue on Saturday, with the Under-14 Hurling League taking centre stage on Monday evening.
By cshalvey Thu 26th Mar
