VICTORY THE TARGET FOR MONAGHAN

Colm Shalvey

Monaghan’s search for their first points of the Allianz NFL Division One campaign continues with part one of a home double-header v Donegal in Clones this Sunday. Losses to Armagh and Kerry (in contrasting styles) have left a newlook Monaghan side rooted to the bottom of the table as the only team yet to pick up a point in Division One, but they will be determined to put that right as they bid to maintain their strong recent record against Donegal. Having left a point behind them in a high-scoring draw behind closed doors in Ballybofey in 2021, Monaghan have since put together a hat-trick of wins over Donegal, even if two of those were in the Dr. McKenna Cup: last year’s final and a meeting of two inexperienced teams just over a month ago. Of the 20 Monaghan players who featured in the win in this fixture last March, more than half have yet to start a game in the new NFL season. Both of these counties took their time to appoint their management for 2023, with Paddy Carr’s ratification as Declan Bonner’s successor in Donegal arriving in