Tyrone v Monaghan - AI Qtr Final Preview

History
In the last quarter century, Monaghan have found Tyrone more difficult to handle than any other Ulster county. Their last win in the championship was in the Ulster final of 1988, while Tyrone have notched up 4 championship wins in the Mickey Harte era alone. The most recent of those Tyrone wins came in 2011 by a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-11.

Monaghan's lone victory over a Mickey Harte side came in the 2010 league, while the most recent encounter was a league game on Easter Sunday 2012, Tyrone winning 1-16 to 1-6 in Omagh.


Form
Malachy O'Rourke's first year in charge of Monaghan has already been hugely successful. They were impressive in defeating Meath to win the division 3 league final, but it was their domination Donegal in the Ulster SFC final that really caught the eye. Monaghan had ground out unimpressive wins over Antrim and Cavan in earlier rounds, but turned in a powerful defensive performance to beat the defending AI champions in the final.

Mickey Harte is in his 11th season as Tyrone manager, and is attempting to build his 2nd great side. Tyrone were impressive in division 1 of the league, narrowly losing the final to Dublin. They opened the championship with a disappointing defeat away to Donegal, but have regrouped in the qualifiers, taking to the road to beat Offaly, Roscommon, Kildare and Meath, the last 3 wins all coming via 2 point margins.


Key Battle
Sean Cavanagh and Darren Hughes are 2 of the best footballers in Ireland, and their midfield battle could be pivotal. Ulster's Railway Cup winning captain, Hughes is one of the few players who has both the size and pace to compete with Cavanagh, and his own forward drives will test the defensive capabilities of the Tyrone man. So often a defensive firefighter, Hughes is revelling in the freedom afforded to him at midfield this year, and he was outstanding against Donegal.

Cavanagh missed the 2012 season due to a pair of freak shoulder injuries, but looks determined to make amends this year. He had his best league campaign for many years, and although his championship form has been patchy, he roared back to his best win a tour-de-force against Meath in the last round. Cavanagh's point scoring from both open play and placed balls was superb, but it was his all round drive that really stood out.

Eoin Lennon and Colm Cavanagh will do the donkey work in the middle, but it will be their more talented partners who will have the greater influence on this game.


Key Men
Monaghan's most important player is arguably Conor McManus. While Kieran Hughes caught the eye at FF against Donegal, it is McManus who is the class act up from for the Farney men. He is good in the air and quick over the ground, and will score from both frees and play if given the chances. McManus should enjoy the expanses of Croke Pk, and will cause trouble for any defender if given a decent supply.

Much will be made of Tyrone's reliance on Stephen O'Neill, yet he has scored a combined total of 0-3 in his 3 games for Tyrone this summer. Therefore, it is fair to argue that he is no longer Tyrone's top performer, and that the mantle has been passed to Mattie Donnelly. Donnelly is in his 2nd full year on the panel and, having been previously been used in defence, now seems to have staked his claim as the long term replacement for Brian Dooher at wing forward. The Trillick man is strong, fast and full of running, and is consistently contributing a couple of scores per game.


Tactical Take
Monaghan have played ultra-defensively in all their championship outings to date. They are a physically well-conditioned side and, in the Ulster final, presented Donegal with a massed defensive wall which they couldn't pass. When Donegal tried to go over the wall to their tall target men, Monaghan's full back line were dominant, albeit assisted by the deep lying CHB Neil McAdam. Their system means that they don't score much, only averaging 12 points per game, however, they are conceding only 8 points per game, which makes them even more miserly than Donegal were in 2011 or 2012.

While experimenting with a more attacking game, Tyrone suffered crushing exits in the last 2 championships. Mickey Harte has looked to rectify this by returning to the sweeper system with which he had success in 2008-2010. Joe McMahon fills this role and, as well as providing cover for a fullback line that lacks real pace, this also allows Peter Harte to forge forward from CHB. Tyrone then drop their half forwards (Penrose and the Donnellys) very deep, isolating a 2 man inside forward line. The system is all about counter attacking through the pace of Harte, Penrose, the Donnellys and Sean Cavanagh. Tyrone score more heavily than Monaghan, but the lack of attacking intent means that they rarely put sides away when on top.


How they can win
Monaghan will not be reinventing the wheel. Malachy O'Rourke is not going to deviate from the system that has served him so well thus far and, to be fair, he probably doesn't have the players to play more expansively against a side like Tyrone. Just like they did against Donegal, Monaghan will invite Tyrone onto them and hope that their aggression and superior physicality can help them turn over possession. They will then look to hit McManus & Hughes with long balls to the corners, believing that they will win these 1-on-1 battles. Tyrone have struggled badly when faced with very defensive sides, lacking a creative playmaker to unpick the defences, or the physical power to go through them. Monaghan will bank on this trend continuing.

Tyrone will be hoping that Clarke, McCarron and Joe McMahon can blot out McManus & Hughes (plus the very dangerous Christopher McGuinness when sprung from the bench). If they can do this, they'll believe that their speed and superior ball skills will find a way past the Monaghan rearguard. Tyrone will try to goad Monaghan into moving out wide, freeing up the middle for Cavanagh, Harte and Mark Donnelly. Donnelly went off early against Meath, and I'd be fairly sure that he must have been injured. His fitness could be crucial. The more stretched and open the game, the better for Tyrone. Monaghan will match Tyrone for fitness, but not for fluidity in moving the ball. A stronger presence on the scoreboard from Stephen O'Neill is also vital.


The Verdict
Be it under Seamus or Eamon McEneaney, Monaghan have struggled to come to grips with Tyrone more than they have with any other side. Given this, and also considering the euphoria that greeted their Ulster triumph, Malachy O'Rourke's most important task will be to have his side in the right frame of mind. This will be Tyrone's 5th game in 6 weeks, and the last 2 have been physically very demanding. Monaghan will have to hit them hard early and hope that the pace of McManus, Hughes (and McGuinness and Tommy Freeman off the bench) can take advantage of Red Hand fatigue late on.

However, in establishing a great winning habit over the last 2 years, Tyrone have developed the knack of winning tight games. There is a lot of experience in their team and, tiredness notwithstanding, the qualifiers will have added s crispness to their game that wasn't present earlier int he summer. In an open shootout, I think that Tyrone would have too much skill and movement for Monaghan to handle, and even in the more likely event of a war of attrition, my (obviously unbiased!) view would be that Tyrone will have just enough big game experience to prevail.

A quality preview sir! Really enjoyed it.

Monaghan played out of their skin
Donegal were atrocious

That aside Monaghan had to take those first four scores
The diagonal balls that hughes won over McGee had to be perfect
McFadden missed a 25 yard free for first time in 24 months
The opposition were missing their only high fielder for 30 mins
The oppositions two key link men were injured or maimed
The opposition could have got 2 goals
The opposition had a point over ruled at a crucial point in opening exchanges
The oppositions front 3 all misfired.
The opposition dominated the bulk of the second half but wasted their dominance going for goals instead of tapping on points

Tyrone gave Donegal their closest game in 2012

In summary whilst not as eloquent as TC an awful lot has to go right for Monaghan and wrong for Tyrone if they are to win this.

RMDrive wrote:A quality preview sir! Really enjoyed it.

Top notch there TC. A well crafted opus.....Kudos.

Thanks Lads, but feel free to add your own views on the game. The preview was meant to kick off the discussion, as opposed to being a stand alone piece!

A blast from 25 years ago. Nudie Hughes on fire early on.

I'd be worried about where our scores are going to come from.  Monaghan held Donegal very well and they have more scoring threats on the field than we do TC.

O'Rourke will no doubt be looking to wrap big Sean up and reduce his scoring threat, Monaghan will also be more disciplined in the tackle so he wont get as many scoreable frees as he did against the Meath men, O'Neill will be double marked again leaving McCurry and the Donellys as our main men.

The big thing we have going in our favour possibly is can Monaghan repeat their performance of 2 weeks ago - history would suggest not...............

great piece by the way

This is one of the games that i am looking forward to as i really can't call it! I'd love to see Monaghan win to see another Ulster side get to an All Ireland semi final but can't help think that Tyrones resolve in tight games, last week included will help them here!

Tyrone will likely win because Monaghan celebrated winning the Ulster championship, end of!

I think this is a tricky one for Tyrone in all fairness. Monaghan, buoyed up after regaining the Ulster title against roaring favourites, will be anxious to drive on from that and likely see this as what is really is, a great chance to progress to the last 4 against a Tyrone side who have somewhat scrambled this far.

Granted, Tyrone have beaten better quality opponents in the qualifiers, but they have been spasmodic at best and were it not for a virtuoso performance last weekend from big Sean, would have been undone.
Monaghan will, as mentioned, seek to curb his influence and would appear well equipped to do just that. They have powerhouses in the middle in Lennon and Hughes, workmanlike half backs where Mone has impressed going forward and grappling for dirty ball while McAdam looks comfortable in the holding role.
Finlay is a crafty operator and their inside men, particularly Hughes and McManus are able fielders who know where the posts are when the occasion presents. They are fit and physical and will be up for it.

Tyrone, to me, have too many weaknesses for comfort. They're not as physical as Monaghan and have appeared to struggle in the right hand side of their defence. Colm Cavanagh made a modest impact in the second 35 last w/end, but the lack of scoring forwards would concern me. McCurry, while game and honest is one-dimensional allied to being likely to struggle in the physical battles. SON remains the go-to man but he's finding the going tough this past few games. Wylie is immeasurably a more doughty opponent that the hapless Kelly of Kildare or even Kevin Reilly and MOR will likely seek to cut the supply lines to him.
Tyrone do have options, in the form of Cassidy, Kane and Coney, even if Coney has looked well off the pace in any of his appearances this far.

Croke Park will suit Tyrone and the occasion won't faze them. How Monaghan approach the occasion will be the determining factor that decides their fate. It's unlikely to be a classic, but will be passionate and intriguing and in a moment of final consideration, I've just said to the labrador "Tyrone Boss" to be met with "Grrrr" and on that basis I'm nodding toward Monaghan.

I've been very surprised to see just how many people are either tipping Monaghan, or are reluctantly going for Tyrone to scrape home by the bare minimum.

I think that Omar has called Monaghan accurately in his summary, and I'd be as confident of a Tyrone win this week as I was last week (i.e. fairly confident). I don't believe that the likes of Dessie Mone and Eoin Lennon have become great players at this stage of their careers, and I expect Tyrone to get the better of them again this weekend.

I just hope that the media slating we got last week, combined with a Meath referee, doesn't mean that we'll have to be killed in order to get a free kick.

Boxtyeater wrote: McCurry, while game and honest is one-dimensional allied to being likely to struggle in the physical battles.

I think his problem is the system we are playing. The lad is too light to win a long ball in, and also struggles to go past his man due to lack of size.

He is, however, sharp and game, and is probably the most accurate forward in our panel. I think if he was playing for a more attacking side he would be contributing more heavily on the scoreboard.

I must say I'm surprised by your complete dismissal of Monaghan Thomas Clarke. Also, I have to say that Omar's analysis of the Ulster final is so one-sided it's laughable, basically breaking down every detail and analysing it to make it look like Monaghan were lucky, despite the fact they comprehensively defeated the AI champions(something Tyrone failed to do earlier this summer). Yes Donegal were below par, but in many cases if they didn't play well, it's because they weren't let.

Tyrone are of course a good team, but I haven't seen anything from them this year that would make me particularly fearful of them. The main man is clearly Sean Cavanagh, fantastic against Meath. But you can be sure he won't get the same space and freedom to bomb through the middle against Monaghan, and I feel we're better equipped in the middle to deal with him. If Darren Hughes is put on him, it'll be a great battle. If Cavanagh doesn't have a similar influence as in his last game, who is going to step up to the plate and lead Tyrone through? Without him they'd have been in big trouble against Meath. I'd have great confidence in our defence to get a grip on Tyrone's forwards - Monaghan have only conceded 0-25 so far in 3 games. Colin Walshe in particular has turned into an incredible corner-back. The question is if we will do enough up front. McManus and Kieran Hughes are in great form, and Finlay while good in the playmaking role against Donegal, he didn't score, so he can improve in that regard. We're getting a better spread of scorers than we used to, with the likes of Darren Hughes and Dessie Mone breaking forward when possible. It'll be a low-scoring encounter, but I think we're capable of outscoring Tyrone.

Another area where we've improved is the overall squad. Under Banty we had a fine starting 15, but when it came to bringing on subs we didn't have players of a similar quality to come on. Now we've the likes of Freeman and McGuinness to come on if we're looking for scores, and Dick to inject a bit more physicality if needed. Indeed McGuinness may yet start, but he's a great option off the bench, fast and tricky with an eye for goal.

Alot of people seem to be assuming that Monaghan simply won't play that well due to the celebrations after the Ulster final and will find it hard to lift themselves again. Absolute nonsense. This is pure guesswork, and wrong at that. Obviously the Ulster win had to be celebrated after 25 years, but that Wednesday night it was back to preparing for the quarter-finals. Malachy O'Rourke is a shrewd man and I'm confident he has the players heads tuned into this one. Indeed, once the draw was made there was no motivation needed, god knows we owe Tyrone one. Overall I have to say I'm fairly confident of a Monaghan win. There won't be much in it and of course it could go either way but I think we'll do enough.



P.S. Thomas Clarke, Dessie is a fine footballer, interesting that you don't rate him much. Twice nominated for an all-star, and indeed was unlucky not to win one in '07 imo. But over time Banty made him into the team's defensive enforcer or whatever you want to call it. He got a few cards and developed a reputation. He's not a natural corner-back but as his performance in the Ulster final shows he is a fine wing-back. He was a forward until his early 20's, which explains the want to attack. If he had been played there more in the last number of years maybe we would have seen a few similar performances. As for Lennon, this year he's only just overcome a long injury problem going back a number of years. As a result he is playing his best stuff in a long time. You might not think they are great, but they are big players in this team and are having fine seasons.

Great to have a Monaghan poster on here and a fine post it was too. My final throwaway comment was a sarcastic one, Monaghans celebrations will have no bearing on this game, for the record i think they were right to celebrate all the Ulster titles won by the county this year.

bald eagle wrote:Great to have a Monaghan poster on here and a fine post it was too. My final throwaway comment was a sarcastic one, Monaghans celebrations will have no bearing on this game, for the record i think they were right to celebrate all the Ulster titles won by the county this year.

Ah I wasn't directing that comment about the celebrations at you at all, it's just a regular comment I've seen elsewhere!

Looking back at the post it does look fairly biased but you'll have to excuse me, there's been a great feeling in the county this last couple of weeks and confidence is high! Looking forward to tomorrow.

Yeah it's something that has been getting to me also, as bocerty said in another thread, it's a bit like celebrating your birthday a month late! Anyhow, whose to say that the celebrations will have any effect on Monaghan at all? O'Rourke is highly thought of around Derry, former Derry player Ronan Rocks said he is the best tactical manager he has ever worked with. He'll have youse well ready for tomorrow! I can't wait for it too, thank God for BBC 2 NI, means i can see it in England!

Yes it is one sided.

There are two possible conclusions to the Ulster Final result

A) Monaghan played out if their skins got a rub of the green and beat a below par team and fair play to them
B) Monaghan comprensively beat the AI champions and as such are strong contenders for September honours and indeed a bushel of talent has remained unfurrowed


I could write 6 paragraphs but in my view their status comes down to ones call on the above.

My money is on A
If its B ill be the first to congratulate them.

OMAR wrote:Yes it is one sided.

There are two possible conclusions to the Ulster Final result

A) Monaghan played out if their skins got a rub of the green and beat a below par team and fair play to them
B) Monaghan comprensively beat the AI champions and as such are strong contenders for September honours and indeed a bushel of talent has remained unfurrowed


I could write 6 paragraphs but in my view their status comes down to ones call on the above.

My money is on A
If its B ill be the first to congratulate them.

I'd hardly say it's B, that's a bit over the top. But what is this rub of the green you talk of?

Monaghan prepared well, did their homework on Donegal and beat them, and well. I don't see the need to have to qualify this by saying it was Donegal's worst game in ages or whatever. They were poor against Down too but got over the line.

I'm not saying we're strong contenders for Sam, far from it, but I do think we've a better team than alot give credit for. We've long had talented footballers in Monaghan, the problem is the amount of them(no surprise given the size of the county), and the right man to lead them. Look at the difference in the team this year and the last couple, with most of the same players. O'Rourke has done wonders and brought confidence back into the team.

That's just my view on the matter.

bald eagle wrote:Yeah it's something that has been getting to me also, as bocerty said in another thread, it's a bit like celebrating your birthday a month late! Anyhow, whose to say that the celebrations will have any effect on Monaghan at all? O'Rourke is highly thought of around Derry, former Derry player Ronan Rocks said he is the best tactical manager he has ever worked with. He'll have youse well ready for tomorrow! I can't wait for it too, thank God for BBC 2 NI, means i can see it in England!

It would be widely accepted that typical celebration activities such as drinking, over-indulgence in food, partying, lack of sleep, etcetera, impact on performance.

Pat. welcome to the forum. Your opening posts have been articulate and well-argued, so hopefully we'll see more of you in the future.

I didn't think that my preview was dismissing Monaghan, but I do stand by my prediction of a Tyrone victory. I don't think that Monaghan were lucky to beat Donegal, and their was no controversy clouding their victory. Watching the game, however, I felt that it was a classic example of a very fit, organised, hungry side out-battling a flat, more-talented, slightly complacent side. I'm basing this partly on what I observed over that 70 minutes, and also what I've seen from both sides over the last couple of years. Considering the opposition, Monaghan's performance was several levels beyond what they have produced in many years, leading me to conclude either that they have improved beyond all recognistion in a matter of weeks, or else it was a one-off high against a misfiring outfit. i also think that it is important to recognise that Lacey & McHugh are everything to Donegal in terms of creativity, and removing them renders the champs much more one-dimensional and easy to defend against.

I'm not dismissing Monaghan's progress this year under O'Rourke, and I tipped them on here to reach the Ulster final, but beating Antrim and Cavan is a long way short of destroying Donegal, and until they repeat the trick against another top side (Tyrone tonight would be an example) i'll remain sceptical about how good they really are.

On the few players you mentioned, Eoin Lennon is a reasonable midfielder, but his career-to-date hardly marks him out as someone who can dominate at AI level. As for Dessie Mone, well until this summer I didn't actually realise that he could kick a ball, such was his penchant for pulling and hauling. I'll concede that his performances at wing back have been very good, but I'm not yet ready to elevate him from decent player to top player on the basis of 70 minutes. I take your point about the all-star nominations, but Tyrone's Raymie Mulgrew was also nominated in 2007 and, despite being only 27 now, he hasn't been able to make the panel in years.

Monaghan are a better side under Malachy O'Rourke than they were under Eamon McEneaney - there is no doubt about that. But as to whether they are better than they were under Banty in 2007/8, I'm not so sure about that, though we'll have a much better idea in a few hours. Tyrone don't look like AI Champions, but they have held their own in division 1 this year, and have proven form over most of this Monaghan side. Perhaps Monaghan will produce another big performance this evening and really establish themselves as AI contenders but, until that happens, I'll be optimistic about the prospects of a Tyrone win.

By the way, here is a link to an interview that Dick Clerkin did for this forum last summer - great interview, and no-one on here would begrudge the man the success that he is now achieving late in his inter-county career:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Have to say I agree with our Monaghan friend here Omar. Your point is based on the assumption that Donegal are/can be as good as they were last year.

Could there not also be option C: Donegal 2013 are not the team they were last year and were comprehensively beaten by Monaghan. That doesn't make Monaghan realistic contenders but might also show that Donegal aren't either? That doesn't mean that Donegal were sub par against Monaghan, the team may have peaked last year.

I can't see where you identify Monaghan getting the rub of the green.. Monaghan worked for everything they got. A lot seem to be dismissing this Monaghan side because their win has come late in a lot of the players development. But a lot of Donegal players weren't exactly seen as thoroughbreds until McGuinness took charge. If Malachy O'Rourke was spinning the same invincibility aura around the team perhaps they'd be taken more seriously..

That said I think this might be the end of the road for Monaghan. I heard Ronan Carolan being interviewed and he said he can see a lot of Cavan 97 in this team, they have probably achieved their goal mentally and the hunger just won't be the same from this point on.

I'd agree with most of what you said there Jonsmith, but when you say it could be the end of the line for Monaghan do you mean this year or in general? I can understand people thinking the main goal for the year has been achieved, which is true, and the notion that the hunger won't be there anymore is a reasonable one.

However for the team in general going forward, I'd like to think that's not true. The last while Monaghan have got a name as an aging team, which is a bit of myth in my view. When you look at the age profile of the team it's actually fairly young outside of the few older lads who are still there. Dick and Tommy are restricted now to sub appearances, though they are great experienced options off the bench. Dessie and Vinny Corey are playing their best stuff in a long time, and are both 29/30 and given they look after themselves should be good for another while. Finlay is 30 too, and doesn't have the same pressure on him for scores as he used to. Lennon would be the biggest worry, although he playing well he's a couple of years older and there isn't many top midfield options in the county, though Darren Hughes playing there is a great move and long overdue really.

I would say our two most important players are Hughes and McManus, both around 25/26, while Walshe in defence is developing into a real leader, captained DIT to a Sigerson earlier in the year and is an extremely talented defender, still only 22. Indeed our back 4(including goalkeeper) that dealt so well with the lauded Donegal front 3, have an average age of around 22(granted they did have help from Corey). Players like Kieran Hughes, Drew Wylie and Christopher McGuinness have really come on too, all early 20's. Add to that there seems to be some real talent coming through after our minors winning their first Ulster in 68 years. It was the forwards that won them that title with some very high scores, and there are at least 4 or 5 very promising forwards there. Obviously minor success is no indication of them progressing to senior level but in a county like Monaghan any talent coming through is welcomed.

Overall I'd be more optimistic about the future than I would've a couple of years ago! The older lads that will eventually phase out in a few years will of course be hard to replace, but at least the younger lads have got a taste for winning and hopefully that spurs them on. I'm not saying we'll be contesting All-Irelands anytime soon but hopefully we won't have to wait another 25 years to win another Ulster title!

Thomas Clarke, it's a fair point that you make about Dessie. I can see how someone from outside the county would form those views on him when all you see is him in a Monaghan jersey in the heat of the Ulster championship, he's pulled and dragged many a forward! But as I say he was almost moulded in that way under Banty, he's more comfortable and natural playing further up the field. He's probably one of the top players in the Monaghan championship over the last decade, and I wouldn't say he's played in the full-back line once. He's usually around the middle third, winning turnovers and breaking ball and attacking forward at speed. And fair enough about Lennon, he wouldn't be up there with the top midfielders of the last decade but is an important cog in our machine, the orthodox midfielder allowing Hughes to go on his bursts forward.

Not long now, hopefully it's a good one.

I just mean this year patk. With what was a very talented U21 team and what looks like an excellent Minor Team coming through, and Seniors now with some silverware there's no reason Monaghan can't be confident competing well in Ulster and making strides in the qualifiers over the next few years.
They will need to develop though. You can't be relying on constantly producing such massive intensity to win games and they'll need one or two more like Conor McManus and Darren Hughes, producing more Dessie Mones won't push them on to the next level. Luckily for Monaghan it looks like they might just have a chance of getting them.

Based on his last performance I don't think we would turn away another Dessie Mone!

I stand by what I said about Dessie. He's a very talented player when played in the right way. Being tied up back in the corner is a waste of his ability. While he won't put in that performance every week, the way he played in the Ulster final is a better example of his natural game than wrestling with corner forwards is.

The Monaghan/Tyrone protagonists here are showing the strain already and it's only 15.00hrs.

Keep talking it up, even with internet amadáns, clearly indicative of your nearest and dearest being solidly fooked up listening to you and your nerves practically in shreds.....

Lads, enjoy it to the fullest.