MONAGHAN SEE GLASS HALF-FULL?

TALKING POINTS
Colm Shalvey

Armagh’s rich vein of form heading into Saturday’s Ulster derby meant this looked like a very tricky fixture for Monaghan, but one point felt like scant reward for their efforts in testing conditions. Monaghan got an awful lot right in their first-half performance, pressing Armagh high up the pitch, aggressively penning the home side in on their kick-out and attacking at pace when they turned them over, but their erratic finishing stopped them from putting the game beyond doubt.

Monaghan created shooting chances almost at will in the first half, but ten wides meant the result was still in the melting pot, before the sending-off of Conor McManus changed the dynamic of the game. Conor Turbitt’s goal got the Armagh support going and when they inched ahead just after the hour mark, it looked inevitable that they would push on. Instead of tiring from clinging into the game, however, Monaghan belied their numerical disadvantage to dominate possession in the remainder of the game and…