Monaghan v Kerry all ireland QF

[cavanmaniac]

I'll excommunicated from the Brotherhood of Cavan for saying this, but go on the Farney!

The Mushroom pickers have a better than 50/50 chance here. They've been a serious team all year and Corey at full-forward will cause alot of problems for Kerry especially now that McCarthy's gone. Their bullishness and unquenchable spirit will carry them a long way as well, as evidenced by their refusal to push the panic button against Tyrone. There'll be no over-awed Ulster footballing tourists lining up for Kerry in a week's time, put it that way. Fitness levels superb also, plus they've been playing regulalrly and looking slicker with every passing round.

On the minus side, Kerry are still Kerry and have the know how and while it's nice logic to say they struggled against Cork, Cork struggled against Louth, ergo Kerry aren't great, it's a dangerous line of thought in my book. Cork rattled Kerry alright but they came through when it mattered, even if Cork took their eye off the ball against Louth a bit. Cork will have a big say in the All-Ireland this year before it's out I reckon. This and Meath v Tyrone are potentially great occasions.

We're supposed to be fierce rivals but true gaels in Cavan can have nothing but admiration for the way Monaghan have gone about their business in the last few years and dragged themselves up by the bootlaces.

[orangeman]

I thought Monaghan were excellent on Suturday but it will take a lot more than huff and puff to beat Kerry ( no disrespect to Monaghan ).

[Kerry Mike]

While I was passing through Castleblayney yesterday afternoon after a feed of spuds in Hope Castle I saw a Kerry jersey in a pub/off license window. "The Mighty men of Monaghan" was on the radio so it was a pure omen we would meet in the draw. Later yesterday evening before watching the draw on TV with the outlaws I just knew it would be Monaghan out in the draw, and so the craic has started for KM, it will make a long two weeks of slagging, Jaysus there was even a Monaghan flag flying from the car on the way home last night. 

I have seen Monaghan a good few times over the last few years and I have seen serious improvements in their games and not trying to plamás the locals too much but I have been saying to them that there was a great future in that team, which most of them pass off as cute Kerry hoorism.

Losing the Ulster final while painful at the time may be a blessing in disguise for them, if they had won they would have gone on the rip for 2 weeks and may have been contented that enough progress for 2007 had been made but now McEneaney has got a seriously focused team to play with a much greater prize at stake.

I think they will cause huge problems for us on the 12th. They are fit and intense and will not allow us to settle. Corey if he plays at full forward, and after his performances in the last 2 games, McEneaney will have to play him there, and he will cause the Kerry full back line all sorts of problems. Against Tyrone Corey was isolated on the edge of the square for long times but on Sat Tommy Freeman played much closer to him and it worked well.  They will drag their half forwards out to crowd midfield and here Woods and Finlay will do a lot of damage when they get time on the ball, they play a lot of fast intelligent ball into the full forward line. Their half back will harry and harass anyone on the ball.

Doubts still exist over their free taking ability and shot options at times, they had 8 wides in the first half on Saturday, I think 12 in total and though it did not matter to the end result these misses will be vital in closer games like the Ulster final when they possibly let the title slip away.

I am not totally convinced about their full back line and feel it is an area for exploitation, Though Flanagan did well on McFadden on Sat there was very poor and limited supply into the Donegal inside line, but this says much about the Monahan midfield dominance but will they get the same latitude against Darragh O'Se and 6"7' Mike Quirke (if he plays!!!). The Mones and McQuaid are fine tight footballers but the open spaces of Croker might stretch them.

In Midfield Eoin Lennon is a bruising workhorse and will win his share of ball and brings a lot to Monaghan's game, however if they let Kerry get a few points up early in the game they will be chasing it like the Tyrone game and it was just too much for them. But it is an intriguing battle ahead, already the TV pundits last night and the papers today say it will be Kerry which is exactly what Monaghan's team and management will want to hear, but rest assured there is at least one Kerryman who will not fall for that hype and is expecting what should be a fast moving game on the 12th.

As for our well being it will be hard to know how the 6 week lay off will effect things, recent County Championship games have seen excellent performances from the likes of Declan O'Sullivan and Bryan Sheehan for South Kerry, while Paul Galvin was flying for Feale Rangers and Sean O'Sullivan for Mid Kerry and Declan Quill and Mike Quirke for Kerins O'Rahillys. As far as I know there are no injuries worries in the Kerry camp which means the panel can get on with bating the shite of each other for the next 2 weeks, and that can be more intense than any challenge games, just hope the intensity is there to get out on Croker and into the game early and get some scores up.

The game with Cork seems like ages ago now and was our only serious outing since the league and Monaghan with 4 "Ulster" games under their belt should come into the game more battle hardened, whether that is a plus or a minus we will see on the 12th. Assuming there are no injuries in the next 2 weeks I cant see any changes to the Kerry backs, Diarmuid Murphy will be between the sticks with a full back line of Marc O'Se, Tom O' Sullivan and Padraig Reidy. Murphy will need to hit his man more from kickouts as the big Cork midfielders won plenty a few weeks ago, but I have no fear of him he is a fine keeper and controls his backline well.

I would expect Marc on Tommy Freeman and if the Ghaeltacht man can breakeven with Freeman we will be a long way to winning that game, O'Se is fast and he sticks to his man well without giving away too many frees and is good in his defending so it could be one of the key battles. Tom O'Sullivan is still growing into the famed Kerry number 3 jersey and even though he did well against the man giant that was Mike Cussen in the Munster final, the Rebel man came out on top scoring a couple of good points. Corey will be a different type of player, though not very tall he is still very good in the air and will use his strength well to win and offload the ball, and as has been seen he has great pace too, O'Sullivan is no slouch in the speed stakes and is tough and will defend well, there are just a few questions about his temperament still to be addressed, another key battle.

Reidy will probably float depending on how Monaghan line up, you could have any number of players, from Finlay, Woods, Hanratty, Gollogly, Smith or even Damien Freeman named in the other corner, but we wont for a minute believe the 15 named to the 15 that will start, McEneaney has shown in the last few games he will make last minutes changes to his lineups and I am sure he will not make it easy for Pat O'Shea to guess his tactics. So we will just have to deal with what is thrown at us on the day.

Our Half backs will be no surprise with Tomas O'Se, Aidan O'Mahony and Killian Young lining up, I'd expect O'Mahony to hopefully pick up Woods and this could be a hotly contested affair with Woods not afraid to get stuck in and Aidan will not yield from that Challenge. Another key battle.

With the big holes that Monaghan like to leave in front of their 2 man full forward line Kerry may plug this with maybe Killian Young or Tomas O'Se. Our lack of cover in the backs on the subs bench was a serious concern in the Cork game and with the exception of Mossy Lyons, Daniel Bohane and Ronan O'Flaherty we are very exposed, we will just hope that all 6 play well and are not injured or yellow carded early in the game.

At Midfield for us will be a certain young lad called D. O'Se, and possibly A.N. Other. Darragh again is the engine of the Kerry team, and how he consistently keeps performing at such a high level for so long is testament to his hunger and drive for Kerry football. His battle with Clerkin and Lennon will have a huge bearing on the outcome, if Darragh plays well we play well. The selection of his partner too will have a big bearing on the game. Micháel Quirke is the man in the jersey at the moment and has done well in his two championship outings, his fielding is top class and at 6 foot 7 will test any player, with his basketball skills he has quick hands to either catch or flick the ball to an open colleague, but its his kicking distribution that can let him down at times and he had some lazy tackling against Cork that gave them some easy frees, he seemed to run out of steam in that second half  but he is supposed to be really working hard in training and it maybe no surprise if he starts in the centre, given the dominance Monaghan have shown there in the second half against Tyrone and also against Donegal last weekend, we will need good primary ball winners. The other options here will be Tommy Griffin who is coming back to form from recent injury and maybe even Bryan Sheehan or Eoin Brosnan or Seamus Scanlon but cant really see any of those 3 starting in the middle. Griffin will distribute better and is better around the field for the dirty ball, I have this feeling that when Griffin played well last year Donaghy played well off his distribution.

I expect possibly one change in the half forward line with Paul Galvin on one wing and Declan O'Sullivan either in the centre or on the opposite wing with An Fear Eile being decided between Eoin Brosnan (centre) or Sean Sullivan (No10). Sean has been flying for Mid Kerry and he scored the winning point against Cork and with his pace will present serious problems for the Monaghan half back however I'd expect the goal threat that Brosnan presents to be a deciding factor on his selection on the "forty".

Galvin and Declan will scrap for everything around midfield and can come up with a few scores too and are both invaluable in their positions, every team needs 1 or 2 of those players who will give their all for the cause. Brosnan was poor against Cork besides an early score but seems to play well in Croke Park and hopefully he can get on the end of some of those marauding runs he makes.

In the inside line Kieran Donaghy will relish getting back to Croke Park and hopefully his disappointing spring and early summer form will be put behind him, if he gets the right supply of the leather, which was not available against Cork he will cause all sorts of problems for a smallish Monaghan full back line, here the selection of Tommy Griffin might be the catalyst as it was much of Griffin's good supply that Donaghy fed off last year, no point having a good target man unless he gets good supply , but Donaghy can play off the lower ball too and he won some good ball against Graham Canty and kicked a great point when we needed it most. Monaghan will have plenty of cover in their half back line so the ball to Donaghy needs to beat that cover and be fast and winnable by the big man. His two corner men have played well this year and
Mike Frank Russell has been in his best form for years and if he and Colm Cooper can get early ball they will cause problems if they get one on one with their markers.
Cooper will also relish another crack at Croker and as seen against Cork he only needs a few split seconds to change a game , his goal that day was well taken and he has the poachers eye for the net.

So there all I can say is that I am looking forward to the game it will be a hard battle for us if we are to progress but that's what you want, you try yourself against the best that is out there and if you win you win, Monaghan have shown they are an excellent team with some great performances this year and they have noting to lose and will give it a right good rattle.

Roll on the 12th.

[The Subbie]

A very good reading of the game there Mike, what did ye have with the spuds on sunday?

[Main Street]

Mushrooms of course

[Maguire01]

Just booked my tickets - unfortunately only able to get Davin Stand/Canal End Lower Tier.

[Kerry Mike]

The last competitive meeting, both teams will have many of the same faces, we stole that game up in Scotstown, I was getting some quare looks in my direction being one of the few people shouting for Kerry...

Controversial Cooper score denies Monaghan in thriller
March 12th 2006

Kerry 1-11
Monaghan 0-13
KERRY picked up two valuable league points in this keenly contested and at times highly exciting Division 1A game in Scotstown yesterday, but they were pushed all the way by a resurgent Monaghan in a game that built to a nerve-tingling finish.

A point by Colm Cooper two minutes into stoppage time was the score that saw Kerry take the spoils and led to heartbreak for battling Monaghan.

It was a controversial score as it came following a free to Kerry after a foul on Declan O'Sullivan. The referee should probably have thrown up the ball as O'Sullivan seemed to retaliate on Stephen Gollogly who had dragged him down.

A point from a free by Paul Finlay moments earlier had brought Monaghan level for the seventh time in the second half and the ninth time overall.

The sides were level twice in the opening 15 minutes after which Kerry forged ahead with a goal and two points without reply between the 20th and 30th minutes.

Eoin Brosnan found the net on the half-hour as Kerry counter-attacked after Monaghan had squandered possession. The home sode replied with three straight points without reply from Stephen Gollogly, Rory Woods and a Hugh McElroy free to leave just two between the sides at the break: Kerry 1-4, Monaghan 0-5.

Within two minutes of the restart Monaghan had drawn level with points from Stephen Gollogly and Damien Freeman. Declan O'Sullivan restored Kerry's lead but within 60 seconds Paul Finlay had Monaghan back on terms setting the scene for an increasingly competitive second half.

Seán O'Sullivan restored Kerry's lead, but a brace from Paul Finlay and Rory Woods in the 13th and 15th minutes saw Monaghan take the lead for the first time.

Kerry struck back with Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Colm Cooper reversing the situation to put the Kingdom in front. Again Monaghan responded and a point apiece from the Freemans, Tomás and Damien had Monaghan back in front.

Cooper equalised from a free and Declan O'Sullivan restored the visitors' lead on the half hour, fisting over at the end of a surging run.

Two minutes from the end Finlay stroked over a free to leave the sides level, before Cooper sstruck.

MAN OF THE MATCH - Dara Ó Sé

SCORERS - Kerry: C Cooper 0-4 (2f), E Brosnan 1-0, S O'Sullivan 0-3, D O'Sullivan 0-3, E Fitzmaurice 0-1. Monaghan: R Woods 0-3, P Finlay 0-3 (1f), D Freeman 0-2, H McElroy 0-2 (2f), S Gollogly 0-2, T Freeman 0-1.

KERRY - K Cremin; M Ó Sé, M McCarthy, T O'Sullivan; T Ó Sé, A O'Mahony, M Lyons; D Ó Sé, K Donaghy; S O'Sullivan, E Fitzmaurice, E Brosnan; C Cooper, D O'Sullivan, MF Russell. Subs: P Kelly for MF Russell (50mins), A MacGearailt for K Donaghy (58 mins), T Griffin for S O'Sullivan (62 mins).

MONAGHAN - S Duffy; D Morgan, J Coyle, C Flanagan; D McArdle, V Corey, P McGuigan; B McKenna, P Finlay; E Duffy, D Freeman, S Gollogly; R Woods, H McElroy, T Freeman. Subs: S Smyth for P McGuigan (14 mins), C Hanratty for E Duffy (49 mins), K Sheerin for S Smyth (68 mins).

REF - C Reilly (Meath)

[ExiledGael]

Happened to be in Scotstown that day, standing beside Mossy Lyons' da infact, but I agree Kerry stole that game. But that's what the big teams are expert at doing, looked like Kerry were playing well within themselves, did what they had to and left with the points.
Monaghan have improved immeasurably since then, especially in terms of preparation and mental strength, but Kerry looked to me to be in second or thrd gear.

Will you be in with the Monaghan crowd again this time KM?

[Ball Hopper]

Good article there, KM.

What with Puck Fair and the Monaghan game, it will be a good week of it.

If Tyrone and Cork qualify for the semi-final, who will the Kerry gang root for/against?  Is there some sort of rulebook in the Kingdom of Yerra to decide such matters?

BH

[Frank Casey]

Kerry Mike, are you game for a session? I suppose you'll be a single man for the next couple of weeks.

[Orior]

Kerry Mike, are you game for a session? I suppose you'll be a single man for the next couple of weeks.

Admin! We'll have none of that sort of stuff here. Last time I saw Monaghan play was the division2 final against Meath a couple of years ago. They've definitely improved all round since then. Should be a good game, but Kerry to come through easily in the end.

[johnpower]

who goes to full back when Corey goes to full forward ?. Where do you guys see him starting against Kerry .

[Maguire01]

who goes to full back when Corey goes to full forward ?. Where do you guys see him starting against Kerry .

I reckon he'll start at FF - too much of a risk to get booked on Donaghy possibly. Plus Monaghan will want to be on fire from the start and getting scores on the board.

On another note, i've just stuck my £20stg on Monaghan at 5/1 - lovely odds!

[johnpower]

who goes to full back when Corey goes to full forward ?. Where do you guys see him starting against Kerry .

I reckon he'll start at FF - too much of a risk to get booked on Donaghy possibly. Plus Monaghan will want to be on fire from the start and getting scores on the board.

On another note, i've just stuck my £20stg on Monaghan at 5/1 - lovely odds!

I agree great odds

[orangeman]

Tyrone will all be shouting for Monaghan !!