Articles in the GAA Category

Malachy O’Rourke (pictured) has forecast that this weekend’s do-or-die NFL clash with Donegal will be a real test of character for his squad.  “There is no doubt about it, this is a very difficult game and a game that will be a real test of character as much as anything else,” the Monaghan football supremo stated ahead of the tie in Blayney this Sunday. “All we can do is approach the game in a positive frame of mind and if we can defeat Donegal and Kerry defeat Cork, that could be enough to keep ...

Monaghan’s battle to maintain their Allianz National Football League Division One status goes into Sunday’s final round after a fourth consecutive defeat. by COLM SHALVEY Monaghan now need a win against Donegal in Castleblayney and for at least one other result to go their way if they are to stay up. Assuming Mayo continue their resurgence against already-relegated Down, Monaghan will need Cork to lose to Kerry to keep the escape hatch open. It’s all a long way from this time last year and even from two rounds into the current ...

Kevin Carney Other than the Dubs, there’s no county in Ireland better able to put bums on seats than Kerry. The Kingdom’s finest were putting bums on seats before there were even seats around; before Kevin Heffernan was born. Given the lie of the land in division one of the NFL right now, St. Tighernach’s Park, Clones should be atmospheric to say the least this Sunday when the Kingdom come calling at 3pm. We’ve gone past the business end of the season at this stage. This is the real deal now. Kerry will ...

Monaghan put their Allianz National Football and Hurling League hopes on the line this weekend, while the Under-21 footballers bid for an Ulster Final place. by COLM SHALVEY Monaghan’s Allianz NFL Division One campaign reaches a critical point with Sunday’s game at home to Kerry. A win over the 2014 All-Ireland champions a year ago this weekend not only gave Monaghan a first win on Kerry soil since 1987, but it also saw a third consecutive victory all but secure them a top-four finish. Wins over Roscommon and Down have been followed ...

In a busy week for county teams, Sunday’s long trip to Cork holds the key for the rest of Monaghan’s Allianz National Football League Division One campaign. by COLM SHALVEY Like this time last year, Monaghan go into the last three rounds with two wins and two defeats to their name, although this time around, they are on the back of consecutive losses, in contrast to 12 months ago, when a low-scoring battle in Letterkenny had launched a run of three wins in succession. Monaghan have again proven their ability to mix ...

There used to be a time when victories over Monaghan hardly registered on the radar. Not any more. After getting rid of their erstwhile management team, the Mayo footballers earned themselves some slack last Sunday and all the headlines to boot with their NFL Division One win (2-11 1-12) in Clones. If the final scoreline was a surprise, there was nothing inexplicable about it. After the game, Malachy O’Rourke all but admitted that Monaghan shot themselves in the foot far too often. Although garnering bucket loads of possession, Monaghan were largely their ...

Monaghan face yet another test of their credentials in the Allianz National Football League when they welcome Mayo to Clones on Sunday. by COLM SHALVEY A one-point defeat against Dublin last Saturday was far from anything to set alarm bells off in the Monaghan camp, but given the unpredictable nature of the results in the division so far – best summed up by Roscommon’s amazing destruction of Cork – nothing is guaranteed. Monaghan put defeats in rounds two and three behind them in 2015 to go on a three-game winning run ...

BY PATRICK SMYTH Although disappointed to see his side lose out at Croker, Monaghan manager Malachy O’Rourke was as philosophical as he was realistic in his analysis of last weekend’s NFL Division One thriller. “In the first 25 minutes in particular we would be very pleased with how the boys played because we were using the ball well and hit some great scores,” O’Rourke commented after the game. “But then after that we would be disappointed with the way we used the ball at times and lost possession and we allowed Dublin ...

These rain-pocked, wind-battered, mud-splattered days make it a cold house for jaw-dropping football but counties like Monaghan do seem hell bent on providing punters with value-for-money football. The consistency of Monaghan’s performances is only matched by the squad’s penchant for putting bums on seats and meat in the sandwich of post-mortems. Last Saturday night was a case in point when Malachy O’Rourke’s troops won a lot of the battles in a gung-ho display at Croke Park only to ultimately lose the war. Monaghan’s gutsy, brave and honest assault on Dublin’s iron-clad reputation as ...

Monaghan’s Allianz National Football League Division One campaign is back with a bang after the three-week break as they travel to the bright lights of Croke Park to take on Dublin this Saturday. by COLM SHALVEY Monaghan started the league with back-to-back wins over Roscommon and Down, but they now face a much sterner test of their credentials against the All-Ireland champions, who have also hit the ground running. Already in 2016, Dublin have beaten two of the other leading contenders for national titles in recent years. They saw off 2014 ...