Malachy O’Rourke rued Monaghan’s slow start in their four-point defeat to neighbours Cavan.

The Farney County boss said he was “desperately disappointed” when interviewed by BBC Sport at Kingspan Breffni Park.

“In the first-half we never got to the pitch of the game at all,” he outlined. “We were hoping to hit the ground running, to play with that bit of energy and drive at Cavan right from the start but we never got going at all.

“When we did get going we took the wrong options up front, we missed a lot of chances and our build up play was a wee bit slow at times. We got bottled up and then Cavan were able to pick us off on the other end of the field.

“Overall, very disappointed with the first-half, the second-half was much better. We played with a lot more urgency, got the game down to three points at one stage but just ran out of time and, look it, Cavan done enough to win the game.”

O’Rourke questioned the decision to award the home side a penalty in the 6th minute before turning his attention to the qualifiers.

“We need to learn whatever we can from today and move forward with purpose and try and get a run in the qualifiers.”

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