Topics

Hi all,
  I'm looking to purchase both Ulster county flags and a club flag. I see that county flags are avaialable on McKeever Sports (https://www.mckeeversports.com/collections/county-flags). Does anyone know where else does them and also anywhere that would make a club flag? Thanks.

Anyone know where I'd be able to purchase umpire jackets? Thanks.

Hi all,
  I'm looking into purchasing a Veo System for our club, or the likes. Does anyone have any experience/comments on it and know of any sales contacts, or do I just go directly to their website?

https://www.veo.co/en-gb

I'm interesting in gathering data (skill execution/movement) so as to analyse it for each player and for skill execution in general, so as to tailor training sessions.

Thanks in advance,
GMF.

Monaghan with the experience, the momentum and home advantage, Kerry with youth fighting for survival. Who wins and how might it play out, discuss..

Any Laois men about? 

Monaghan definitely got the rub of the green thus far in the qualifiers but our eara have pricked up and our eyes have narrowed for this one.. It'll definitely not be as simple as the previous 2. I'd expect us to win, one major fu*kup in a season is enough for any man..

Jaysus, it's horrid quiet.. 

Back to Omagh for the Monaghan lads..

I'd expect this to be closer than some might expect. Will Fermanagh push up on Beggan's kickouts potentially leaving them one-on-one or exposed at the back? This tactic will be important I feel given the influence of Beggan on how Monaghan operate.

It'll be interesting, I'd hope and expect Monaghan to pull away in the end but Fermanagh certainly do not fear Monaghan. The recent encounter in the Athletic Grounds should be fresh in the minds of the Monaghan players and management..

I was reluctant to start an individual thread and thought it would get mopped up in the qualifier thread but, the Armagh/Kildare boys set the tone, so here goes..

Revenge, being a word. There's no doubt that this is exactly the game that Monaghan need to awaken them from their slumber.. That's no guarantee that we'll win but I'd be pretty certain that one thing every Monaghan person wants to see put right is the 'fight in the dog'.. Down bullied Monaghan in the first 15/20 mins and our boys never reacted, which is unusual for a Monaghan team.. That had a definite impact on the game, our lads went on to miss easy chances, handing Down the initiative and belief. They fully deserved their win but this is an opportunity for Monaghan to put it right. Die dog or sh*te the license! I'm sure some of the lads have had sleepless nights since!

The first two men I'd have on the team-sheet are Gavin Doogan and Dermot Malone. MOR rather naively left these lads out the first day, opting to play a defender and a mid-fielder in the HF line (K Duffy and D Hughes respectively). Complacency, perhaps.

And now to Cavan.. This will be tight. McGleenon reckons D Hughes'll feature (insider information?), will K Hughes last the distance? So many questions...

Not much chat about this one. Televised it seems but I'd still expect a big crowd, as always is the case between us. The Saturday evening first round will be an interesting experience also.

Nothing much being said re players. Dessie Mone and Vinny Corey should hopefully be pushing for a start, as will Colin Walshe. This will offset the loss of D Hughes, if he is indeed a loss.. ;-)

I've a feeling this one will be a more 'open' affair compared to the heavyweight boxing competitions of late.. Last year in 'Blayney and the previous year in Leitir Ceanainn were difficult viewing, 'not one for the purist' as they might say..

Monaghan's defence has been robust and work vrey hard but Donegal showed on Sat last that they are well capable of breaching the massed defence, with both a running game and kicking from distance. Some of their kong range point scoring, specifically from Ciaran Thompson, was first class..

There he goes, talking up the opposition... 

In the immortal words of The Stone Roses 'This is the one, I've waited for'. Monaghan obviously looking to continue where they left off and Cavan obviously looking to get points on the board before the break.. I'm not sure what the injury front is in Cavan, Monaghan shouldn't be too bad, probably a few sore bodies after the Mayo game as it was a physical affair.. Cavan didn't shrink against the Dubs in that regards so this will no doubt be an up close and personal affair..

So it's that time of year when we're (i.e. coaches/mentors) all trying to get tooled up for the coming season.. I'd like to gauge your thoughts on whether the club should pay for (or partly subside) it's coaching costs e.g. foundation/level 1/coaching conferences etc. I'm not talking about providing expenses to travel to/from said events but merely the participation cost.

Thanks.

One of the classiest footballers in Monaghan, ever. Possibly one of the classiest footballers in Ulster, ever.

He will no doubt be remembered most for his display against Armagh in 2003 in the USFC, scoring 8/9pts off either foot.

I remember him doing much more however; pulling Monaghan out of many a hole during dark lengthy periods before 2013.

His champagne moment for me was the last last ditch free against Meath in the 2005 division 2 final, what a bit of craic that was..

The word 'legend' is diminished of late through its exhaustive usage in social media. In Monaghan footballing terms how ever, Paul Finlay is a legend.

Good luck in you're retirement, you've done Monaghan proud.

I suppose the first debatable point is; where will/should it be played?

Clones got both semi finals in the past few years but I'm not sure if that's automatic. Obviously I'd prefer Clones but realise it's not exactly neutral for Monaghan..

I heard it said that if Antrim won it would be Breffni and if Fermanagh won it would be the Athletic Grounds.

Get the Easter eggs hunted out and ate good'n early lads.. Really looking forward to this one. A win would be great but looking forward to a good match in fortress Clones..

I can't see there being any changes to the Monaghan starting line-up from last week, and why would there be. Good to see Gavin Doogan named in the subs as we need additional mid-field cover in my opinion. Still no mention of Eoin Lennon which is unfortunate as he would also be a valuable asset.

You'd imagine both teams will be fielding 'championship like' line-ups which should make for a good encounter. Dublin could of course blitz us like the did last year and against Mayo this year but I feel it will be a tighter affair than both those encounters..

The odds are stacked (no pun intended) against us here but like in the rugby on Saturday points difference could play a major role if 3 teams finish level. Monaghan should be reasonably confident however after winning two Ulster derbies albeit not in the most exciting of manners. If they set up the defensive screen(s) again will Kerry find ways through?

Monaghan would have definitely targeted this game at the start of the year as winnable. We were unlucky against Cork not to take anything from that game; we now need to get points at home from our remaining 2 home fixtures. Win this and we're on 6pts, which should hopefully be enough but it's all very clustered in the middle..

I haven't heard of any injuries from last Sunday and in fairness McManus wasn't exactly stressed so that should help his case. Ryan Wylie and Gollogly will be back in the frame but I would personally start with the same again as to a man they done OK. Midfield is still an issue for us as and I don't believe Neil McAdam is the answer. Donegal seemed happy to restart each time by kicking to either McGee or McGrath and didn't expose our lack of aerial ability in midfield, which I thought was strange; the ability of Neil Gallagher to field and build attack after attack was the winning of the Ulster Final last year in my opinion.

Another ultra-defensive Ulster derby beckons me thinks.. 

I believe it warrants its own thread, given the local derby aspect!

Should be a good game. Monaghan definitely spluttered in the McKenna Cup group games and could do with getting their regulars back from injury (i.e. McManus, the Hughes brothers, Vinny Corey and Eoin Lennon if possible) back asap..

Tyrone looked comfortable in the second half on Saturday and never seem to panic. There's no doubt that Mattie Donnelly, McCurry etc. turned in the game in their favour..

There'll not be a lot in it I'd say, and hope..

Let's get this started.. Obviously there'll be no surprises this year for Donegal. I know they've improved since last year but I think so have we. I can see this one going to the wire and reckon we can shade it by the minimum of margins...

Come out fighting as the man says... 

Now... This'll not be handy, especially with McManus out, I mean who will the oscar nominated Sean Cavanagh pull to the floor now?

All joking aside, really looking forward to this one. Should be a good game. Tyrone in my opinion are not as bad as last Sunday and not as good as yesterday..

It's definitely gonna be a battle and our lads will need to step it up a level from the league and cut out some of the silly mistakes. We were good in some of the games but only middlin in others. I don't think we were particularly good in the league final either and Donegal flattered us somewhat.

Bring it on..