MONAGHAN FOOLED us and so, possibly, did Kildare. Séamus “Banty” McEnaney had been sending out honest Monaghan sides these past six years. Honest, yet limited, but with enough quality forwards to do damage.
This season it changed a little. Paul Grimley came aboard, having left Kildare, and they began playing smarter football. McEnaney and Martin McElkennon are no dummies, mind, but the combination of all three seemed to click as Armagh and Fermanagh were well beaten.
Turns out Armagh and Fermanagh were poor versions of their old selves. Come Ulster final day in Clones the long-awaited coronation of Monaghan was ruthlessly denied by one of the greatest teams to grace a Gaelic pitch. Kildare are no Tyrone but six days is not enough time to fully recover from their 1-14 to 0-7 hammering.
Kildare were beaten early by what has turned out to be a decent Louth outfit. They scrambled past Antrim, swatted Leitrim aside and scalped a Derry team racked by in-fighting. Kildare are edging towards last season’s impressive form with possibly more to come under Kieran McGeeney’s obsessive yet astute guidance.
Monaghan are at the lowest of low ebbs. The reputation of forwards like Tommy Freeman and Paul Finlay is under scrutiny. Grimley knows Kildare inside out but McGeeney is no stranger to this long-serving Monaghan group.
Monaghan may resort to a less civilised approach to get the job done but the priority for Dick Clerkin and Eoin Lennon is to grab hold of the midfield department where Kildare have Dermot Earley on patrol. Who wants it more? It should be fun.
KILDARE: S McCormack; P Kelly, H McGrillen, A MacLochlainn; M O’Flaherty, E Bolton, B Flanagan; D Flynn, D Earley; J Kavanagh, P O’Neill, T O’Connor; J Doyle, R Sweeney, E Callaghan.
MONAGHAN: TBC
Referee: J White (Donegal).
In the last episode: Not much rivalry to speak of here. A league encounter last year which Kildare won but their last championship encounter was 1930.
You bet: Monaghan are 6/4, Kildare are 10/11 and a draw at 15/2. Gambling on the qualifiers,
however, is like Russian roulette in this reporter's unprofitable experience.
On your marks: Let's just see what team Monaghan fields. The loss of captain Vinnie Corey is
significant. If it is followed by JP Mone then the defence is in trouble. Tommy Freeman needs
to come alive as well.
Gaining ground: Kildare are seeking a third successive appearance in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Monaghan are qualifier experts at this stage as well but have yet to rise above the average.
Just the ticket: Stand tickets €20-€30. Terrace €20. Juveniles stand ticket €5.
Crystal gazing:The Paul Grimley factor muddies the waters. Monaghan to dig deep and win by two points, no wait, Kildare by four points. Or a draw. Okay, seriously, Kildare have a decent rhythm while Monaghan broke a few strings last week. Geezer's boys to prevail and Banty to step down at full time.
