Replying To countymonaghan: "Understandably Armagh are going to be massive favorites. This is their 4th Ulster final in a row and have won an All Ireland in that time also, as well as competing at the top stage the whole time. They could be easily going for 4 Ulster titles in a row only for 3 narrow defeats and bad penalty taking.
Monaghan have a lot of fires to put out against this Armagh team. Conanty, McConville, Duffy, Turbitt are massive scoring threats inside. McMullan, Jarly Og, Murnin coming from deep are awful powerful runners and need watched so Monaghan have a lot to worry about with regard to armagh running directly at them. But if Monaghan show up with their second half attitude, work rate and fight they will put it up to Armagh. Monaghan had their fair share of wides/shorts on Saturday there so this needs improved on also.
Listened to Conaty and McGeeney speak after their semi final and they both stated how Monaghan will not have a fear of them come the final day. Monaghan have a free shot at an Ulster title, big few weeks preparation and try get the bodies right and fit.
Beggan
Byrne O'Toole Lavelle
Dowd (sub to McElerney) Ward Carey (sub to McGorman around 50 mins)
McCarville Kelly (McCaul to replace half time again)
McCarthy Bannigan O Hanlon
Gallagher (McAnespie to replace around 40-45mins) Woods Garland (McCarron to replace at half time)
Monaghan need to stay within distance but also keep something for the home stretch. Whats everyone elses opinions?"
Kelly barley touched the ball against derry and u have him to start. Just copying exactly what happened against derry. Hope ur not managing at club level
Replying To Monaghan_football: "Kelly barley touched the ball against derry and u have him to start. Just copying exactly what happened against derry. Hope ur not managing at club level"
Kelly is playing way out of position to be fair to him. He could do a marking job on McCormack, McMullen, or even Burns. If he barely touched the ball and they barely touched it either, I'd take that.
Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1330 - 07/05/2026 13:01:29
2671447
lookit im excited too but just to bring people back down to earth - the last time we met earlier this year they beat us by 12 points...monaghan have yet to beat a division 1 team in what? two years - was it Dublin January 2024? could be wrong there...and armagh are raging hot favourites for a reason
that said i cant wait and to be fair the performances have been trending upwards at exactly the right time. my opinion is we need the leaders to lead - simple as that...we've a new batch of leaders since the old dogs retired and passed the torch - bannigan, ward, beggan and as eddie rightfully said earlier - michael mccarville whos been excellent this year...a big game in them 4 fellas and i believe the rest will follow
Replying To Blackcardnot: "Delighted with Armaghs performance on Sunday. They couldn't have done us a bigger favour, getting all the attention that was on us after Saturday evening and getting it placed on them instead. In relation to the Armagh- Down game, I don't understand why Armagh felt like they had to play their hearts out until the final whistle. Would it not have made more sense to slow the game right down, get game time into some of the less experienced on the panel. To me it seems like they only know one way to play and any deviation away from that is inconceivable, is this the K McG school of management? If Monaghan went out and played like that in a Semi against a team that had long given up, I wouldn't be impressed. I'd like us to save ourselves for the next day out. Yes, GB has a big task ahead of him but I believe K McG might have a bigger one. He has to figure out how to play a team that's evolving with every game. I think we know what to expect from Armagh but Armagh certainly don't know what to expect from Monaghan."
I'd say theres a few reasons why they went all out.
1) after the 2nd half performance against Fermanagh the team took pelters for coasting in the 2nd half, switching off etc 2) the competition for places - the lads coming on are hungry as hell to try get a place in the team.
As for the less experienced getting them game time - Magee, Murphy, Galvin and Oisin/Rian younger brother Aaron O'Neill were all introduced. Some debuts and only a handful of appearances between them. Obviously Oisin O'Neill came on too as the next man up who always adds some scores.
More experienced returning players like Rory Grugan, Barry McCambridge and Ciaran Mackin werent even brought in.
Replying To 222: "Totally disagree. Armagh have won the biggest prize of all and im sure they have enough to deal with the expectation of an Ulster final. The most important medal to count is the celtic cross. You could look at this game and even say it doesn't matter in the slightest as the most important competition begins next weekend as well. Armagh will of course want to win but it's not a season decider. Agree with others we will need to curtail there running game and be aggressive."
K McG has made no secret about how much he wants to win Ulster with Armagh, it's the one title he hasn't won under his tenure.