NICKY RACKARD CUP.
Monaghan v Tyrone: Carrickmore; Saturday May 11th @ 3.00pm.

Last Saturday saw the opening round of matches in the 2013 Nicky Rackard Cup in which Tyrone defeated Louth by 1-11 to 0-12, a good result for the O'Neills men as Louth had handed them a fairly hefty defeat in the Allianz Hurling league earlier in the season. In the other game Roscommon defeated Sligo by 1-18 to 0-14. Monaghan and Donegal both had a bye in the opening round of matches. This Saturday though, Monaghan and Donegal are in action, Monaghan taking on Tyrone and Donegal taking on Roscommon.

For Monaghan, this game on Saturday will be a matter of trying to replicate the battling performance they put up against Tyrone in the Allianz hurling league division 3A relegation play-off which Monaghan won with a late goal from Sean Leonard at the end of an exciting contest in Kingspan Breffni Park. Against that though Tyrone will be hugely motivated to avenge that defeat and they will also be determined to build on their success against Louth. In last weekend's Rackard Cup match Tyrone showed plenty of character as they fought back from a sluggish start and in the latter stages defended bravely to curtail a resurgent Louth who had closed the gap to the minimum as the minutes ticked away but they soaked up the pressure and then struck for an excellent point from Sean Og Grogan to clinch victory. For Monaghan this time out it will be a case of replicating their second half performance in Breffni Park back on April 13th but they will also seek to improve on aspects of that display as they failed to capitalise on a number of good chances that could have given them a greater cushion in the second-half. The accuracy of Michael McHugh from frees in particular was a crucial element in that victory as he scored nine points out of his total of 1-10 from placed balls. Fergal Rafter who had just returned from injury also scored two excellent points and he will definitely figure this time around. The Monaghan squad is in fact being strengthened all the time with the return of a number of players who were unavailable earlier in the year for a number of reasons and that will give team manager Joe Morris options as he sits down to finalise his selection. The return of Padraig Dowdall to full fitness could see him starting at full-back thereby releasing Sean Leonard to his more accustomed role in attack and it was when he moved forward in the latter stages of their last meeting with Tyrone that he helped clinch victory with an excellently executed goal. The availability of Seamus Loftus also will give the manager options particularly in the half back line and he will hope too that Mark Treanor will have recovered from injury that kept him sidelined the last day. All in all it looks like another fairly close encounter but with Tyrone enjoying home advantage Monaghan will have to produce a big performance if they are to get their campaign off to a winning start. Irrespective of winning or losing though Monaghan will be out again on Saturday week, May 18th and the outcome of that one would be the ultimate deciding result. Tweet

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