ULSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.
Monaghan v Tyrone: Healy Park: Sunday June 5th @ 3.30pm.

No one is under any illusions as to the task facing Monaghan when they travel to Healy Park in Omagh on Sunday for their quarter-final meeting with the reigning Ulster champions Tyrone. Following last years exit from the championship there was a degree of drama if not controversy surrounding the Monaghan team but the team that travels to Omagh on Sunday will be a vastly changed team from that which took the field in Clones last July. . Gone from last year's team that started against Tyrone are Shane Duffy, John Paul Mone, Damien Freeman, Gary McQuaid, Kieran Hughes, Rory Woods and Tomas Freeman while a number of others who were on the panel are also no longer involved. Monaghan team manager Eamonn McEnaney used the National Football League to search for new talent and blood new talent as he sought replacement for players who were out of contention for whatever reason or were unavailable to them so in that regard this is an untested team championship wise. According to team manager Eamonn McEnaney Monaghan could be giving championship debuts to as many as 6or 7 players given that not only are six of last year's starting team in the Ulster final no longer involved but his panel has been seriously affected by injury. A recurrence of his hamstring injury looks like ruling Vincent Corey out and it is unlikely that David Hughes or Gavin Doogan will play which puts serious pressure on the panel and limits the options the manager has open to him. Mark Keogh will be making his Ulster senior championship debut in goals and was one of the finds of the National League, settling into the position very comfortably and demonstrating his ability with a string of fine saves including a couple of penalties. Kieran Duffy, Darren Hughes and Colin Walshe is the most likely full back line with Dessie Mone being deployed at centre back where his most likely wing men are Conor Galligan and possibly Mark McNally or Donal Morgan. There are options in midfield with Neil McAdam, Owen Lennon and Dick Clerkin who has been named as captain this year and is looking forward to leading Monaghan out on Sunday. Up front McEnaney will be looking to Paul Finlay and Conor McManus to lead the charge while debutantes James Turley and Christopher McGuinness can also contribute meaningfully, McGuinness especially one of the success stories of Monaghan's National League campaign. Latton's Owen Duffy could also figure as could Bernard O'Brien and Stephen Gollogly.
For Monaghan it is essential to get off to a good start and settle into the game early and it is even more crucial that they do not concede an early goal. Tyrone though will make it extremely difficult for them given their style of play and their greater level of experience. Their ability to transfer the ball from defence into attack at speed was a feature of last year's performance and they also used the sweeper system to very good effect, a tactic that Monaghan simply could not break down. If however Tyrone are to be beaten there is a school of thought that the day to take them is in the opening game in the championship before they have built up any degree of momentum.

THE RESULTS: ULSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.
1918 Monaghan 4-4 Tyrone 1-0
1923 Monaghan 2-6 Tyrone 0-3 (semi final)
1929 Monaghan 3-7 Tyrone 1-2 (semi final)
1931 Tyrone 1-3 Monaghan 3-9
1937 Tyrone 0-8 Monaghan 4-12
1938 Tyrone 0-6 Monaghan 3-8
1956 Tyrone 2-9 Monaghan 0-7
1959 Tyrone 1-9 Monaghan 0-7
1960 Tyrone 3-6 Monaghan 3-11
1967 Tyrone 1-13 Monaghan 1-7
1975 Monaghan 0-13 Tyrone 1-5
1976 Tyrone 2-10 Monaghan 1-10
1981 Monaghan 2-9 Tyrone 0-6
1982 Tyrone 1-9 Monaghan 0-9
1988 Monaghan 1-10 Tyrone 0-11 (final).
2007 Tyrone 1-15, Monaghan 1-13. (final, Clones July 15th 2007).
2010 Tyrone 1-14, Monaghan 0-8 (Final, Clones July 18th 2010).
All Ireland Qualifier
2005 Monaghan 1-7 Tyrone 2-14 (Croke Park, 6/8/05).

EAMONN MC ENANEY.
For team manager Eamonn McEnaney though this is the date that has been in the calendar for quite some time and that has been the main focus even throughout the league campaign. "Effectively we have been getting ready for this game since I took over as team manager basically, and when the championship draw was made and we came out against Tyrone then everyone was focusing on this game from then on. We had the National Football League and the McKenna Cup in the meantime but your main focus is on the championship and that's the one where people want to see you doing well. So everyone knew from the moment that draw was made that it was going to be a big task, travelling to Omagh and playing Tyrone, the current champions and going for three on a row we certainly know it's a huge challenge for us".

Darren Hughes knows it will take a full 70 minutes; "we would be hoping that coming to the end that we will be there or thereabouts, that going into the last 10 minutes we will still be in contention. We know what we have to do and we are definitely hoping to get over the line this time".

DICK CLERKIN.
Dick Clerkin has been named as captain for this year's Ulster senior football championship which he agreed was a great personal honour for him. "It is, and it is something that my father said I would appreciate more when I'm finished playing. You take these things in your stride at the time but I have to say that not everyone gets the opportunity to captain their county team. You might like to think of course that when you've been around for some time that it may come your way but that doesn't always happen like that and a lot of players will tell you that. It's not something that you take for granted and it is a huge honour especially when I look at the players around me who would be well in line for it, the likes of Paul Finlay and Eoin Lennon, to name but two, but they are leaders in their own right. I do acknowledge that it is a huge honour and I hope I can do as good a job as the lads who went before me. Vinny Corey was an excellent captain for the last three years as was Damien Freeman before him. It is an important position on the team especially in a county where you have a lot lads coming from different clubs and you're not always together in club competition, so it can be the responsibility of the older players to try and keep everyone together especially the young lads who are coming in and as captain you properly have to take that responsibility on as well". Tweet

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