Monaghan defensive ace Dessie Mone says he is enjoying his football more than ever.

The Farney County have adapted a more composed approach to the game under manager Malachy O'Rourke and this has so far yielded back-to-back promotions in the national football league and a first Ulster SFC title in 25 years as well as a long-overdue championship victory over Tyrone earlier this month.

Mone's butterfly-like transformation from a dogged man-marker to a flamboyant wing back sums up the new spirit of adventure and calm permeating the Monaghan ranks.

"The one thing I have found going into matches now is that I enjoy them more. I take the occasion in more now and try to enjoy it," the Clontibret clubman comments in The Belfast Telegraph.

"The Monaghan support give you more energy as you walk out onto the pitch. You try and use that for the people of Monaghan.

"The young lads are coming in, they have their own mindset and nothing is weighing them down. They have put the buzz back into our legs."

But, with Armagh looming tomorrow night, Mone certainly isn't getting carried away after the first-round Ulster SFC win over erstwhile bogey team Tyrone:

"There was always that big rivalry between us and Tyrone, they always had the better of us in recent encounters. We knew going into the game it wasn't going to be easy, it was a game that came down to the last 10 minutes and thankfully we came out on the right side.

"Again, we could have lost it, we made a lot of mistakes in the second half and we made a lot of mistakes in the first half and we need to improve it. Games against Tyrone are always intense, it was probably one that we needed that win.

"It's just a box ticked, there's a lot of football to be played yet and going from that game we have a lot to improve upon." Tweet

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