Improvement needed to end poor record at the Hyde
Opinion
Colm Shalvey
If there was any doubt over how challenging this year’s National Football League Division 1 campaign will be, Monaghan were given an early reminder in last Sunday’s first-round loss to Armagh.
How much of it was down to Armagh’s slickness and how much boiled down to a poor performance from the home side remains to be seen, but it was certainly a little from column A and column B, with Monaghan contributing to their own downfall, at least in part.
Armagh dictated the terms of the first half, dominating every sector. The 2024 All-Ireland champions won 16 out of 28 kick-outs during that first half, won more turnovers, turned it into more attacks and more shots and despite kicking seven wides, they also had a better conversion rate, scoring 15 of their 24 attempts.
By contrast, Monaghan were forcing too many shots, five of which dropped into the hands of Armagh keeper Blaine Hughes, which all too often ended with the ball swiftly ending up being moved to the other end of the pitch.
The most notable difference between the teams was the pace of their attacks, with Armagh bringing much more fluency to their moves, which allowed them to pick off a string of scores from inside the ‘D’. The Orchard County only took on two attempts from outside the two-point arc all afternoon and they ended up nailing two-thirds of their remarkable total of 42 shots, with that success rate being well above Monaghan’s 44%.
Partly because they needed to chase the game in the second half, Monaghan ended up attempting 14 two-point shots and while they landed three of those – two from the impressive Stephen O’Hanlon – that was never going to be enough to close the 11-point interval gap.
Like many counties at this time of year, Armagh have been affected by retirements and injuries, but Kieran McGeeney’s status as the longest-serving inter-county manager (now in his 12th season in charge) means they are better equipped than most to cope with that transition.
They were still able to field a fairly experienced team on Sunday, with the likes of Conor Turbitt, Oisín O’Neill, midfield duo Callum O’Neill and Andrew Murnin and their impressive half-back line of Greg McCabe, Tiernan Kelly and Jarly Óg Burns leading the way.
Having run the rule over his extended panel during the McKenna Cup in the absence of Monaghan’s sizeable Scotstown contingent, Gabriel Bannigan handed NFL debuts to Jack Kiernan and Thomas Hughes, plus first league starts to Darragh Treanor and Daragh McElearney, making up four of the back seven.
Ryan O’Toole did make his return to the county fold – having missed almost all of Scotstown’s county championship, before returning to star in their provincial run – while Ryan McAnespie got a run-out off the bench in his first competitive game for club or county since he went off injured in last year’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Donegal.
That was as far as the good news went for Bannigan, however, with Shane Hanratty, David Garland, Alastair Stewart and Fionán Carolan having been added to the injured list and Ryan Wylie also forced to withdraw due to illness.
It already looks like Monaghan will face a tough ask to retain Division One status following last year’s promotion, with this Sunday’s trip to Roscommon looking like a pivotal one. Roscommon, minus their St. Brigid’s stars, surprised many by going toe to toe with Kerry last weekend, when they were very unfortunate not to leave Killarney with at least a share of the spoils from a game where Diarmuid Murtagh and Dáire Cregg hit 1-15 between them.
Despite the absence of their All-Ireland club finalists and the retirements of long-serving trio Niall Daly, Ciaráin Murtagh and Dónie Smith, the Rossies made a bright start under Mark Dowd, who replaced Davy Burke as their manager last summer. They had looked set to claim a famous win at times on Sunday, but amid some last-minute controversy as a couple of decisions went in favour of the All-Ireland champions, Tomás Kennedy managed a buzzer-beating winner for Kerry.
Seven of the last eight NFL clashes between these counties (excluding last year’s Division Two Final at Croke Park) have been won by the home team, the one exception being when Monaghan won in Kiltoom in 2016.
Dr. Hyde Park hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Monaghan, who have fallen to four consecutive defeats there since their last win at the Roscommon-town venue in 2007. A repeat of the first-half performance last weekend won’t be enough to change that stat, so Monaghan need to hit the ground running in round two.