Nicky Rackard Cup semi final
May 23, 2013This Saturday Monaghan travel to Letterkenny determined to build on their success against Sligo last weekend, when they defeated the Yeats men to book their place in the semi-final of the Nicky Rackard Cup. Donegal had already booked their place in the semi-final with victory over Roscommon a couple weeks back but Monaghan had to recover from a disappointing performance and defeat by Tyrone to get their Rackard Cup aspirations back on track. Monaghan have reached the semi-final of this competition before but have never made it to the decider and to achieve that feat this year would be a great boost for hurling in the county and a reward for all the hard work that this group of lads have put in. Monaghan though will be all too well aware of the strengths of Donegal and their potential as these sides have already met this year in the Allianz Hurling league division 3A where Donegal had a very comfortable victory, 3-18 to 1-6, and in fact went on to reach the final of that competition only to lose out to Fingal, the team that Monaghan should have played in last year's final.
For Monaghan it is simply a matter of trying to pick up where they left off against Sligo last Saturday. They got off to a good start with two early goals and a similar beginning this time around would give them an ideal platform. The return of Padraig Dowdall to match fitness is certainly a boost and with him back in his familiar number 3 shirt it releases Sean Leonard to the full forward line where he has shown that he certainly has a nose for a goal. Peter Treanor at centre back is a young man who always leads by example and he will not be found wanting this time out while Trevor Hilliard will revel in the midfield exchanges. Joe Morris will also be hoping that Fergal Rafter will have recovered from the injury that saw him substituted last Saturday as he is a hard worker and can take a score. The arrival of Tadhg Campbell on the scene has certainly given Monaghan an extra dimension in attack. He scored a goal against Tyrone on his debut and rattled in a hat-trick last Saturday and a similar return this time around would go a long way to helping Monaghan over that penultimate hurdle. Tweet
