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[the winner of Sundays game will have one less day to prepare for their round 1 last 8 game]

Ros v Armagh at 3pm in Port
Cork v Tyrone at 5pm in Port
Fermanagh v Kildare 7pm in Navan - all Saturday

Laois v Monaghan at 2pm in Navan on Sunday

Navan not too neutral for Fermanagh,Monaghan and why is Navan selected twice? the winner of Sundays game will have one less day to prepare for their round 1 last 8 game.

Minor enough point I'd have thought but the fixture boffins might fix the winners game for the following Sunday (15th July), thus giving them 7 days, maybe.. 

[Super]

This round of the draw should have seen all division 1 teams  put into a pot and drawn against each other with any team left going back into the main bowl. This would also incentivise winning your province, taking the gloss off the qualifiers route and open up more places in the super 8's.

The clue is in the name i.e. Super 8. Rigging it to be anything other than that is doing no one any good.

[Cant see much wiggle room for HQ given the rules for the draw]

Surely to god common sense will prevail and Kildare retain home advantage. Cant see much wiggle room for HQ given the rules for the draw. Take it then change the rules for next year. Or will good aul Health and Safety play a part? Watch tomorrows next eposide of the GAA v Kildare

Surely that's the problem, that the rules of the draw did not take into account stadium capacity/H&S issues? It's a mammoth oversight on the part of the GAA, when you think about it, to think that this might not happen... If Kildare stand firm, which I think they will (and should), it's gonna look very embarrassing for HQ..

One thing for sure is the qualifiers are throwing up interesting games while provincial are dull and predictable. I tbink the end may be in sight for provincial championships.

Round 2 games all look fairly predictable, while the provincial championships this year already had shock wins for Carlow v Kildare, Fermanagh v Monaghan and Galway v Mayo...

Would agree Louth v Leitrim probably the hardest game to call. Hopefully we see a few shocks in round 2 to make it a bit more interesting. I can imagine Tipp v Mayo will be the live game.

Is there a live qualifier ? The Cork Kerry Munster final is on the Saturday and the ulster and Leinster finals are on the Sunday.

Cork v Kerry is 7pm on Saturday 23rd, so presumably there'll be a live R2 qualifier at 5pm

You'd imagine whoever broadcasts it would want Tipp v Mayo?? Cork v Kerry is Páirc Uí Chaoimh so that would work..

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! 

[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.]

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.

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..

The monaghan squad looks stronger this year than it has in a number of years ever.

And that's no disrespect to the teams of the 80s.. 

If you win ulster you go into the same group as Dublin which is a good thing imo. You can afford to get beat by Dublin, win the other 2 games thus quality for semi and avoid Dublin again til the final.

So if you emerge from your 'super 4' group you will be in a semi-final with a team from the other super 4 group? That might be preferable but taking a beating from Dublin in your group may not be ideal, and it also means you must beat the other 2 teams in the group to qualify for the SFs, who might be at away/neutral venue.. Score difference will be significant also between the 3 teams vying for second place.

What are the thoughts on Mairtin Beag's revelations yesterday: https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2018/0521/964991-mchugh-mickey-harte-is-really-under-pressure/

"The home work the management has done has been great. Malachy O'Rourke and Ryan Porter weren't going to games in Monaghan to look for players. They went to Tyrone club matches to see what they could pick up instead."

"That's the level management has gone to. They won the battle on the sideline hands down by doing things like that."

Is this on a par with Devenney's pubic assertion that McManus was not gonna feature or does Martin just like to say something different for the sake of it?

Would MOR and Ryan Porter have spent time (unnoticed) at Tyrone league games, really? 

To some all that up.. our team is better than yours ... and to rub salt in the wound, so are our roads 

Semi finals are
Cavan v Monaghan
Tyrone v Derry

Dates/Venues? Is it the case that the curtain raisers from here onward will be the U20 fixtures?

Absolutely delighted with the win but more so with the performance. Monaghan showed serious patience ande experience after a rocky enough start.. Going 5-2 down we were concerned that Tyrone would steal a march and then shut the game out. Instead, Monaghan upped the ante, ran at the Tyrone defence from all sorts of angles and broke tackle after tackle to pick off their scores. Believe me, you'd have been laughed at if you used the above parlance when talking about Tyrone and Monaghan a few years ago..

  Tyrone definitely lost the side-line battle. Mickey Harte outfoxed Monaghan management for years so this was unusual to witness yesterday. We were standing on the terrace where the Tyrone team were doing their warm up (mostly non-contact stuff without the ball). It was evident that neither Cavanagh, Brennan or McCann were as sharp as the others, and I'm sure they were all well warmed up prior to that stage. Having to call all three to shore really zapped the confidence out of the team, surely bringing them on to give the team a lift would have been better. Arrogance, complacency or just bad selection on the part of MH?

  Some of the scores were top class and put way to the myth that the blanket defence has totally destroyed the game and diminished the scoring ability. Give me a McAnespie/Mone/McManus score any day compared to some diminutive corner forward running into an acre and turning and shooting.

  Some of the dispossessions too were text book. Monaghans control around the middle dictated the play and ultimately led to victory. That was in big part due to the performance of Rory Beggan, who put on a masterclass..

  It has to be said, the arrogance and cockiness of some Tyrone posters prior to the match in calling Monaghan supporters arrogant and cocky was surprising. Monaghan folk were quietly confident of going to Omagh yesterday and winning, and this was based purely on our consistent performances of late and the strengh in our panel, and of course McManus and Beggan.. On that note, it annoyed me to hear the boos and chants coming from the stand directly behind where McManus was taking the sideline frees in the second half, although they were extinguished after he pushed the second one high, beyond the far post and over the black spot.. 

The delay (about 1 hour 10mins) getting out of Omagh was shocking. Folk who give out about Clones and its traffic problems need to think again..

That's a pretty strong looking Monaghan team on paper.
What sort of form has jack mccarron been in this year?
After a great league last year he had a very disappointing championship overall

He's been in good form. Started a few games and brought on in others to good effect, most notably in the Dub game.. He does a serious amount of work off the ball, which is not typical for an inside forward and doesn't really get noticed. I like this aspect about him.

You're right thought, last year his league form definitely did not translate into C'ship.. Mind you, there was a sight of talk and hype about him last year, which I don't think helped his cause. There has been significantly less this year, which may help.

An in form full forward line of himself, K Hughes and McManus will give any team plenty to think about. Of course only any 2 of them (and maybe even 1!) will remain 'inside' at any given time. I mean, this is not the halcyon days of the 80s'.. 

Most of the media points towards a Tyrone victory, and that the time is now for a more balanced Tyrone approach, the errors of the Dublin game being in the distant past and Mickey Harte has reincarnated once more, etc.

Whilst I agree somewhat it sets it up nicely for Monaghan, who are also no doubt confident of doing the business. I was more confident at the start of the week than I am now.. the confidence being usurped by nervous butterflies.. As has been stated Monaghan need to go at them from the start, and dictate the terms of play. If they get drawn into a dog-fight I feel we'll lose, as discipline in high pressure games like this has been a problem for us in the past. Based on this my starting team would be:

           R Beggan,
R Wylie, C Boyle, C Walshe
K O'Connell, D Wylie, F Kelly
       N Kierans, D Hughes
D Ward, C McCarthy, R McAnespie
J McCarron, K Hughes, C McManus

Subs: S Garland, V Corey, K Duffy, O Duffy, D Mone, N McAdam, P McKenna, T Kerr, B Kerr, D Malone, David Garland

If Boyle doesn't make it D Wylie to FB and K Duffy/V Corey to CHB. Kelly could start in the HF line pushing McAnespie to the bench and moving K Duffy/V Corey to wing HB.

As has been said of Tyrone, numbers on jerseys are largely academic. Monaghan will need serious pace (to both attack and defend..) and more importantly discipline..