Muineachán v Fear Manach

[FermGael]

If Duffy is not fit I think it is a plus for Fermanagh.
Firstly, Duffy ia a good shot stopper and has good kickouts.
Hughes is an excellent defender who is more than capable of taking a score.
Think he can hit a good 45' as well.He seems a natural CHB and Monaghan will miss him.
He is untested as yet in nets. One save against Armagh that was striaght at him does not make him a good keeper. 

[Maguire01]

But being alert to the high ball does. There's more to being a keeper than stopping the ball aimed directly at the nets. He was quick to react to a number of high balls against Armagh which potentially avoided shots on goal.

Having said that, i'd rather have Duffy back and Hughes outfield.

[GrandMasterFlash]

If Duffy is not fit I think it is a plus for Fermanagh.
Firstly, Duffy ia a good shot stopper and has good kickouts.
Hughes is an excellent defender who is more than capable of taking a score.
Think he can hit a good 45' as well.He seems a natural CHB and Monaghan will miss him.
He is untested as yet in nets. One save against Armagh that was striaght at him does not make him a good keeper.

You're spot on there FermGael, he's more of a loss out the field than he is a gain in nets. Not too many Monaghan folk are claiming that he's a 'good keeper' but he done a job against Armagh and hopefully can do a job against Fermanagh if played there.

  I'd slightly disagree about Duffy though, he's not a bad shot stopper but not great either. Padraig McBennett who was on the panel last year was a better shot stopper IMO. Duffy has a long kickout but tends to be a bit one-dimensional i.e. always straight down the middle, rarely hits the wings and rarely takes or sees the short/quick kickout.

  Monaghan probably have a few more options in defence though than if a player was taken from the forwards so they should be able to plug the gap. He's a big loss out the field though, no doubt about that..

[FermGael]

But being alert to the high ball does. There's more to being a keeper than stopping the ball aimed directly at the nets. He was quick to react to a number of high balls against Armagh which potentially avoided shots on goal.

Maguire good keepers do both. 

[bigfrankt]

If Darren Hughes is called upon to stand in goals again he will not be found wanting in shot stopping or under the high ball. He is well experienced in goals and is the type of guy you could stick in anywhere, and he has the right kind of attitude for these big games.

I'm not saying he can't or won't make mistakes but saying he's totally untested is not true. I personally think that he is a future midfielder for us and is certainly our finest young player by quite a way. I also think that he is probably one of the best goalkeepers in the county anyway but i accept that he doesn't regularly do goals and as with anything this is a risk.

Come on Monaghan!! I'll be in Brefni on Sunday and i can't wait!!

[haranguerer]

You tell 'em frank. How dare they say anything remotely negative about Hughes?!

Would also hope its true, but doubt it. Banty loves smokescreens, this is just the kind of rumour he'd perpetuate. Could see Hughes playing chb

[GrandMasterFlash]

You tell 'em frank. How dare they say anything remotely negative about Hughes?!

  You're a p***k, the man is knew to the board, has 5 posts and you're responding with churlish remarks, grow up lad! 

 

[Any craic]

http://ulster.gaa.ie/// - see confident Fermanagh fans ('well, sort of') and the verdicts on Sunday's game from Tyrone - Danny Ball, Mickey Harte and Tony Donnelly.

[haranguerer]

You tell 'em frank. How dare they say anything remotely negative about Hughes?!

  You're a p***k, the man is knew to the board, has 5 posts and you're responding with churlish remarks, grow up lad! 

What to f**k are you on about you dick?! Such an ott spiel about Hughes goalkeeping ability deserved a tongue-in-cheek remark, and thats what it was. Oh, hes 'knew', sure we should ignore all his posts for the first few hundred is it??!

[Maguire01]

But being alert to the high ball does. There's more to being a keeper than stopping the ball aimed directly at the nets. He was quick to react to a number of high balls against Armagh which potentially avoided shots on goal.

Maguire good keepers do both.

I agree entirely. I was just responding to your post that implied that all he did was block one shot that was straight at him.

[Maguire01]

RTÉ going for a draw:


Going into Sunday's clash with Fermanagh, Monaghan have already showed that they could be the team to beat in Ulster this year after crushing Armagh in Casement Park.

Fermanagh endured a difficult league campaign but the end of a 96-year stint of not beating Cavan in the Championship has ignited hopes of a first-ever Ulster title.

It promises to be a very difficult task. Monaghan, regardless of the fact that Armagh had to play with 14-men for much of the encounter, looked a well-balanced team that combined all the flair and experience it takes to win an Ulster title.

The margin of victory, 12 points, was eye-catching to say the least.

It was the way they put Armagh to the sword that really made counties across the country take notice.

They'll be very confident of seeing off Fermanagh but nothing is ever as straight forward as it seems in Ulster.

This game could potentially provide an upset, a lot is expected of Monaghan while for Fermanagh the pressure is a lot less.

Monaghan's experienced managerial team of Seamus McEnaney and Paul Grimley could prove vital if the Farney County have not put the game to bed as it enters the final quarter.

The Ernemen have won four of the last five meetings between the sides in the Championship and getting to this stage is already seen as progress.

They will have the same exuberance as Monaghan and maybe the lack of experience, particulary in attack, could suit them.

It certainly didn't affect their forward line in the Cavan match, we'll know early on in the match in Kingspan Breffni Park how they are approaching the game.

Both teams will be craving a good start, this could well require more than the 70 minutes.

Verdict: Draw

[Schkite]

The more I'm hearing about this, the more it looks like Duffy won't be fit to play and Hughes will have to mind the nets again. Hopefully it's a load of hot air which wouldn't surprise me in the least, but I'm not liking what I'm hearing. Duffy's quad injury just hasn't cleared up sufficiently, he's training away I think but his kicking just isn't right, and lets be honest that's one of the main reasons he's there, his big weapon is that huge kick-out. Of course his other abilities like shot-stopping and the rest have improved over the years but the kick-out is why he got his foot in the door to begin with and still his main asset.

If Hughes is to be in goals again, we will need to offer him great protection so that he has as little one-on-one action with the Fermanagh forwards, though I expect there will be more goal chances for Fermanagh than there was for Armagh the last day out. It's definately over the top to be proclaiming Hughes as an unbelievable goalkeeper, or one of the best in the county, he is a great young, willing player, did a job between the sticks for a short time at underage and did very well against Armagh for someone who was asked to do it at the last minute. He won't be pulling off any Banks-esque saves but he's a big, strong man but (importantly) agile and athletic also. He knows his angles and he certainly wouldn't be found wanting under the dropping ball. I still wouldn't want him to be left exposed for one-on-one shots and as I say we'd need to protect him here. Ironically, we have always been liable to concede soft goals from high balls, and Hughes is as good a man as you'd want to be under them. Of course it's still not what you would want, we're missing one of our influential and central players from out the field, Hughes is always solid in defence and is a great man to take the game on and drive forward.

As I say, hopefully this won't matter but I fear it might.

[FermPundit]

Hughes named in goals

Monaghan: D Hughes, D McArdle, JP Mone, C Walshe, D Freeman, V Corey, G McQuaid, D Clerkin, O Lennon, S Gollogly, P Finlay, K Hughes, C Hanratty, C McManus, T Freeman. Subs: S Duffy, F Caulfield, M McElroy, D Mone, N McAdam, H McElroy, R Woods, C Greenan, G Doogan, G Flanagan.

Fermanagh -TBC

[FermPundit]

Fermanagh: Ronan Gallagher, N Bogue, S Lyons, B Mulrone, D Ward, R McCluskey, T McElroy, J Sherry, M McGrath, D Keenan, R Carson, M Little, P Ward, Rory Gallagher, C O'Brien.

Subs: C Breen, J Woods, N McGovern, M Jones, M O'Brien, D Kelly, K Cosgrove, R Jones, C Flaherty, R Keenan, C McElroy, B Cox, S Quigley, J Connolly, A McCarron.

So no changes for Fermanagh. They played as selected against Cavan but I have a feeling we might have one or two changes in personnel come throw in.

[FermPundit]

I've just noticed that Peter Sherry hasn't been named on the bench. That is a surprise if he's back to full fitness.