Cavan v monaghan ask the experts

We asked some football followers their thoughts on Sunday's Ulster SFC clash.

Damien O’Reilly
(Ulster U21 and senior medallist)

I am swaying towards Monaghan simply because they have played Division 1 in the league which might have them at a slightly higher level.

They have played the likes of Dublin, Cork, Kerry and Donegal. I thought they struggled badly in Clones in the last game of the league but a week later they came back and put in a very good performance against them in the semi-final in Croke Park.

Balancing against that is the fact that we’re at home and Cavan had a good league campaiogn too. But if someone gave me a charity bet and told me to put it on one of the teams, I’d have to put it on Monaghan.

Cavan will have to try to stop the flow of ball towards Conor McManus and Kieran Hughes, if he is in there – that will mean getting a grip at midfield and breaking ball. I know we will try to play men behind the ball and crowd the area but McManus in particular is good so stopping him is important.

You’d feel a small bit of pressure [playing Monaghan], not as much for me personally because I’m from totally at the other end of the county but it does add a little bit of pressure for guys from those areas. It brings a bit of edge to it and so will the fact that if they get over the first hurdle, the winners have a great chance of reaching the Ulster final.

There’s a lot to win and a lot to lose, so it’s a big game. I’d really love to see Cavan winning and I hope it goes their way but I think, being honest, Monaghan might have a slight edge.

 

Malachy Clerkin
(Irish Times journalist and Monaghan supporter)

A lot of Monaghan people looked at the draw and thought ‘grand, there’s an Ulster final’, not because they were playing Cavan but because a lot of strong teams are on the other side of the draw.

I don’t know that Monaghan could look at Cavan like that – they were very lucky to win it two years ago, I thought that Cavan very much deserved a draw.
I think Monaghan are probably a bit more solid, everybody seems to know their job and they seem to have kicked on since 2013 more than Cavan have.

Monaghan didn’t win Ulster last year but they still got their first win in Croke Park for 70-odd years. They also beat Tyrone for the first time since 1988 so they have kept building and building, they have won two leagues in a row, Division 3 and Division 2, and then made the semi-finals of Division 1, so they are progressing.

They also beat Kerry in the league for the first time since the 1980s.
They don’t seem to have any major injuries and I think Colin Walshe might make it back.

That said, it’s perfect ambush territory for Cavan. Monaghan people still talk about 1995, when they beat Donegal in Ballybofey and then, just when they thought they could go a long way, Cavan beat them in Clones.

I think Eugene Keating is a terrible loss for Cavan and you’d wonder how much they can score without him. Balancing that is the presence of Gearoid McKiernan, who I think is better around the middle than anything that Monaghan have – Cavan could have an advantage there.

I don’t think it will be fun to watch and it will come down to who kicks the frees or who gets a goal – and Monaghan have three very strong free-takers in McManus, Beggan and Finlay.

All told, I’d take Monaghan by three or four points but I wouldn’t be overly bullish about it.

 

Alan O’Mara
(Ulster U21 medallist)

The formbook points to Monaghan who have been operating in a higher league all year and put up a strong performance against Dublin in Croke Park. They will be further buoyed by the 2013 championship victory over Cavan in Clones and understandably go in to this one as favourites.

Stopping Conor McManus will be the absolute key for Cavan; his game has gone to a whole other level since that 2013 meeting and is now one the best attackers in the country and a real gem of a player.

Fortunately for Cavan, our defensive unit has shown that they are capable of setting up an effective engagement zone, soaking up pressure and using that as a platform to launch counter-attacks.

However, unless we have cracked the goal-scoring issue in big games, a high percentage conversion on our shots-to-score ratio is a must in order to get the win. I’m hoping a few of the forwards really step up and deliver in front of the home crowd.

I also think a huge performance from Gearoid McKiernan will be key to any possibility of a Cavan victory.

He is more than capable of grabbing this game by the scruff of the neck and chipping in with two or three points from the middle.

If the right Cavan shows up - one filled with passion, energy and tenacity - then I have no doubt they are capable of causing an upset and advancing to the last four.

Ollie Brady
(1978 All-Star)

I think the key battle will be our forward line against the Monaghan defence. We have struggled to score goals and we have only won one game in the Ulster Championship in four years, so realistically we need a massive performance and we probably need Monaghan to have an off-day.

Cavan will need to get a couple of goals to win — Tyrone got one goal against Donegal but it wasn’t enough on the day. Conor McManus is the key man for Monaghan and I think Jason McLoughlin might pick him up, he’s a good man-marker and he’ll get a job of following McManus everywhere. He’ll need to be disciplined because McManus can pick up some soft frees.

Gearoid McKiernan, when he pushes forward, is our key man and Cavan will need him going well and Cian Mackey linking up with him to provide some penetration up front.

It’s going to be tight, Monaghan don’t like coming to Breffni Park but we need to put up our best performance since we beat Armagh there two years ago. The heart says Cavan but the head says Monaghan - if someone gave me £1000 in the morning to put on either team, you’d put it on Monaghan. But hopefully I’m wrong.

 

Paul Brady
(former Cavan player)

Firstly, I don’t think Monaghan are as strong as many people believe. They are heavily reliant on three or four key players, Conor McManus and the Hughes brothers in particular, and the Wylies to a lesser extent.

If Cavan could stop them they have a great chance. Cavan played fairly well against Meath in the second half, although they were just trying players out. They will have learned a lot about their best starting 15 on form at this point in time from that match.

I don’t think their forwards are all that good – they’re reliant on McManus and they get an awful lot of their scores from frees from him, Paul Finlay and Rory Beggan.

If Cavan don’t concede many frees, it will increase their chances a lot.
I think playing in Breffni Park is a huge advantage – even things like shooting into the goals they are familiar with. It’s massive – it should be worth a couple of points and it will be.

McKiernan, Mackey and Martin Reilly are very important and all three will need to play well. Martin has been exceptional and I think that will continue.

Drew Wylie is a big player for them, a big man with a big presence, but he might struggle against someone smaller so Cavan should look to bring him out of there, maybe putting someone like Ronan Flanagan on him to give him something to think about.

Cavan were a little pedestrian at times in the league but they have adjusted and based on how they’re going, they’ll put in a big performance.

Overall, I think home advantage will provide an edge and Cavan will win it by two or three points.