USFC SF: Monaghan v Fermanagh - Sunday 3rd June at 2pm - Healy Park Omagh

[GrandMasterFlash]

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..

[FermGael]

Have to say it's very quiet.
I watched back the Armagh game and looking back if Armagh would have taken their chances Fermanagh would have been beat.  They hit a serious amount of wides from very kickable frees. Monaghan will be alot more clinical that Armagh .
Fermanagh will have to be very disciplined in the tackle. Anything inside the 60 is kickable for Began.
We have to keep it tight. We will play the system we have played all year but against Armagh we kept the two Quigley's up the field which was good because it meant we had a goal threat up there and they had to be watched.
Corrigan seems to have been fit for the Armagh game but wasn't risked because he wasn't needed.
Would be very interesting if Fermanagh started both Quigley's and Tomas. 
We have a good midfield but Began will not kick anywhere near them.
Can see Monaghan targeting our half forward line for kickouts as they will have a significant height advantage there.

Ultimately I think the strength of the Monaghan squad will carry the game . 
Malachy has had Femanaghs number since he took over Monaghan.
He knows the Fermanagh lads very well.
Monaghan by a few after a tight first half

[Farrandeelin]

Why is this down for Omagh? Surely Cavan would be more suitable would it not?

[FermGael]

Cavan out of action for a while I believe.
Pitch is getting redone

[trileacman]

I'd concede the kick outs and squeeze the middle third of the pitch if I were Fermanagh. Play your blanket between the two 45's which seems to be the more modern way of playing it. If you drop too deep you'll be fouling within range of Beggans frees. Monaghan's depth of talent may well tell in the closing stages but I reckon Fermanagh won't be far away in this one.

What was the injury that banjaxed Corrigan again? Shoulder? Or was that the brother?

[Unlaoised]

Monaghan by 6

[Farrandeelin]

3 days out and there's not much chat. I'm going, so if you hear anyone with a western accent it could be me.

[GrandMasterFlash]

Have to say it's very quiet.
I watched back the Armagh game and looking back if Armagh would have taken their chances Fermanagh would have been beat.  They hit a serious amount of wides from very kickable frees. Monaghan will be alot more clinical that Armagh .
Fermanagh will have to be very disciplined in the tackle. Anything inside the 60 is kickable for Began.
We have to keep it tight. We will play the system we have played all year but against Armagh we kept the two Quigley's up the field which was good because it meant we had a goal threat up there and they had to be watched.
Corrigan seems to have been fit for the Armagh game but wasn't risked because he wasn't needed.
Would be very interesting if Fermanagh started both Quigley's and Tomas. 
We have a good midfield but Began will not kick anywhere near them.
Can see Monaghan targeting our half forward line for kickouts as they will have a significant height advantage there.

Ultimately I think the strength of the Monaghan squad will carry the game . 
Malachy has had Femanaghs number since he took over Monaghan.
He knows the Fermanagh lads very well.
Monaghan by a few after a tight first half

I would expect Kieran Duffy to mark Seamie and Drew Wylie to mark Sean. There has been evidence recently that Drew has lost some of his pace but he has marked Sean to good effect before and I'd expect him to do the same this time. Darren Hughes will be the man likely to sweep in front of them.

I think conceding the kickouts (completely) is a high wire strategy, as proved by Antrim on Sat evening. If you have strong runners and good support play (thus breaking the line) it leaves you open at the back.

What Monaghan did to good effect in the Tyrone game was to push up on their kickouts and as soon as the ball was kicked long drop back to crowd the middle third before the ball was fielded.. Now, this takes a huge amount of energy and would not be sustainable for 75mins but is an effective strategy as you have men joining the attack and providing off the shoulder support as the ball is broke, or a mark is executed, providing you win possession of course..  I'm not a fan of zonal marking either as players get caught out of position too often for my liking, this causing confusion/frustration.

[GrandMasterFlash]

3 days out and there's not much chat. I'm going, so if you hear anyone with a western accent it could be me.

If you stand out from the Monaghan and Fermanagh accents you'll be doing well.. Enjoy! 

[Schkite]

Being honest, unless we get too complacent, you would think we will come through this fine. And I would hope the defeat against Down last year is still fresh enough to make sure that doesn't happen.

Just seen in the paper this morning that we've had 21 scores against Fermanagh in our last 3 championship meetings which was interesting. Gallagher seems to have tightened them up a bit of the back at the same time, but still I think we have a good spread of scorers and good options off the bench if the game is close late on - and it was in the last 10-15 minutes where we've really pulled clear of Fermanagh in recent meetings. So I think it could be tight for a while, but ultimately we should pull away from them.

Is Conor Boyle back for this I wonder? If he's fit then I'd start him on one of the Quigleys.

[Boycey]

Any Tyronies with local knowledge of 'secret' back routes out of Omagh for people heading towards Monaghan. We were ok the last day but loads of ones were caught in the gridlock and didn't reach home til approaching 10PM

[redzone]

Your prob coming from ballygawley roundabout so 1st roundabout take the second turnoff then at next roundabout take the first turnoff left. That will take you into Campise. Park there and you should get straight out. Turn your car to and loads of food outlets there too. It's a bit of a walk but if you don't know the area around Healy then I wouldn't be going near the pitch

[Erne Man]

Not particularly excited about this one to be honest. I think the step up here is huge, and I suspect Monaghan will do what they have done to us in the past few meetings and run out 7 or 8 point winners.
Having watched the Armagh game over again - I thought we were quite poor. Our comfortable win was more down to how utterly useless Armagh were on the night. Defence looked ok, but Armagh got a lot of shots off, and you'd imagine Monaghan will be a lot more efficient in front of goal. I think we still lack abit of pace in the full back line outside of Mickey Jones which would be a concern.
Midfield were excellent, and it will be interesting to see what Beggan does with his kickouts. Armagh keeper was spooked in the q/f and didnt go long once. Yet we didnt push up at all and force him to kick it long, and offered him a corner back for at least all his 1st half kick outs. Donnelly and Jones were excellent, but the Hughes brothers bring a different aggression, so we cant rely on Eoin and Ryan to carry as much as they did the last day. I suspect Ryan's late runs will be tagged better by the Monaghan defence, which could reduce our scoring threat from that area.
We really lack speed inside, and if Tomas is fit he has to start. Seamus and Sean aren't natural ball winners, so the long ball option on top of them isnt going to work often enough in a game to get a scoring return from it. The McCusker's are great workers, but need to be careful of carrying into contact against a better organised team - they can be prone to turning over possession cheaply. Aidan Breen was quite quiet against Armagh, and he definitely has more in him for Sunday.
For me the performance is more important than the result this weekend, and we will need a decent showing to bring some momentum into the qualifiers. Hate to be negative, but I suspect both teams will probably score about the same as their respective quarter finals - with a fairly comfortable Monaghan win.

[Schkite]

Monaghan name an unchanged team - which as we all know means nothing, as Malachy will make his customary couple of changes before throw in.

Good chance a couple of Boyle, Walshe and McCarthy could start, but I wouldn't be surprised to see another curveball like Garland starting or something like that.

[Schkite]

Seamus Quigley replaced by Ciaran Corrigan.

Amazingly, Monaghan play as selected! Can't recall many times in recent years we've done that in the championship