Muineachán V Doire, Scotstown, 21 March 2010

[Maguire01]

Very important game now. 3 teams safe in Division 1 and 5 teams on 2 points with Monaghan bottom on scoring difference, with Derry second from bottom. Both teams have difficult final games (Monaghan away to Mayo and Kerry, Derry at home to Cork and away to Galway) and will be looking to get something out of this one. It's difficult to see both teams staying up and whoever loses this game is in big trouble (although given that 5 teams are on two points, it might not require 6 points to stay up).

As for the tie itself, there's plenty of history between these two teams with four recent championship ties in the last few years and two wins each. Monaghan's defeats to Derry last year will still be fresh in the mind. Scotstown however is a different proposition and Derry won't have anywhere near as much room as they had in the qualifier in Clones last year. It's all to play for. Expecting a tight and tough game.

[haranguerer]

My valuable contribution is gonna be that monaghan are shite, and derry will only have themselves to blame if they lose this one (which wont happen despite their mental fragility)!

[Maguire01]

My valuable contribution is gonna be that monaghan are shite, and derry will only have themselves to blame if they lose this one (which wont happen despite their mental fragility)!

A very valuable contribution, all the way from (the bottom end of) Division 3. Thank you.

[Maguire01]

Enough about last week's games! Roll on Sunday. Anyone from Derry making the trip?

[whiskeysteve]

Enough about last week's games! Roll on Sunday. Anyone from Derry making the trip?

[Main Street]

 
That's not exactly tripping the light fantastic.

[GrandMasterFlash]

Enough about last week's games! Roll on Sunday. Anyone from Derry making the trip?

Just comin over the Glenshane pass there Steve?

  Lookin forward to this one - hard to call. Derry not goin great at the moment but Monaghan not much better. The home advantage might be the difference, hopefully! Should be a good tussle as there's a lot of recent history between us. We need to be tactically more astute than last Sat though, way too one-dimensional I thought..

[tbrick18]

Difficult to call this one. Both teams really need a win and both teams not playing well.
I dont think Derry can play much worse than they did last week and I'm hoping the experimentation is coming to an end as we need to get some sort of settled team before the championship.
Monaghan at home and with the recent history of these 2 teams will be a factor.
Impossible to call, 50-50.

[Main Street]

The betting goes Monaghan 10/11 Derry 11/10.
It's a great game for Monaghan as a barometer towards championship aspirations.
I hope both teams can have a good hard fought competitive tussle without any silly escalations.

[GrandMasterFlash]

Gonna be a tough one with McArdle and Corey out, two of our most experienced players. I'd like to see a bit more tactical nuous from the sideline for this game, I was disappointed with the strategy last week. Dessie will start in corner back to man mark PB but he needs to stop the rash challenges.. Tommy Freeman needs to be kept close to goal and if support is needed out the field then bring McManus out. He's a natural HF/HB and shouldn't be left inside instead of Freeman. Rory Woods will likely get the nod in FF given hid strength which is an important factor if marking Kevin McCloy.

  Haven't really seen any of Derry this year so can't really comment. Still some very dangerous/effective men in their team, the Bradleys up front, Doc in the middle and McCloy and Gerard O Kane at the back.

Can't really call it yet I have to say... 

[Main Street]

Are McArdle and Corey definitely out, not just doubtful?

[GrandMasterFlash]

Are McArdle and Corey definitely out, not just doubtful?

I don't know for definite actually, so apologies for attemptedly starting a rumour, but sure aren't message boards fuelled by rumours... McArdle had the magic (or not) blue tape stripe on his hamstring and seemed to aggrevate it early on so I'm not sure how serious that is. I never heard as to the extent of Corey's injury..

[Main Street]

Message boards are cluttered with rumours

Judging by that, Vinny is not yet pronounced dead, so there is hope.

[handballref]

Hard one to call indeed. Derry have been up and down since the start of this year. Played well against tyrone, not too bad against kerry and awful against dublin and mayo. however, cassidy has been very experimental so i wouldn't be too worried. though relegation is staring us in the face and it is important for us to stay up this year. paddy bradley starting in full forward again would be a start. played on the 40 last week against mayo and wasnt as effective. would be great to see declan mullan start in the WHF position. i think he could be very useful for us come championship but he has only played half an hour in the league because of injury. i dont know whether or not he is fit. full back is a problem for us at the moment. mccloy was given the run around against mayo. dermot mcbride and mick mcgoldrick in the corners, charlie kielt and possibly sean leo on the wings with gerard okane in the centre back position and hopefully doc and patsy will click in midfield. aidy mcl, kielt and mullan (if fit). if not fit i think we should try wilkinson in WHF. i think he would be good at winning breaking ball and that was an area we suffered in last week. the 2 bradleys and maybe lee moore in ff line. cant comment on monaghan at all because i havent seen much of them at all but i expect a very tight game.

it all depends on how experimental a team cassidy will put out. however it is an important game and i think he will want to do his best to come away with a win.

derry by 3 in a tight game 

[cameltohill]

gonna be a close match-hopefully can retain div 1 status

the team i think will line out

dunne
mcguckian, an other, mcalary
kielt, b mcgoldrick, okane,
doc, patsy bradley
brian mullan, lynch, sean leo
p bradley, e bradley, a mclaughlin