O’NEILL MUST LIFT PLAYERS FOR GALWAY
MONAGHAN had already been hit by one sucker-punch this summer, when Fermanagh’s Eoin Donnelly scored a late goal in the Ulster semi-final. Given that it’s not in the nature of the Farney side to run away with games, they will always be open to a late blow.
Malachy O’Rourke admits that he was concerned that history might repeat itself in Croke Park yesterday, as his team were two points ahead of Kildare going into injury-time. This time, Monaghan survived.
‘You are always thinking that, that they might get a suckerpunch, but we knew that if we got the tackles in further out the field, we would stop the high ball,’ he reasoned.
‘I think only one high ball went in. You are always afraid that something like that will happen but the boys held out well.’
On a difficult day for playing football, O’Rourke was delighted by how his players stood up to the test. ‘We are delighted to have got through it. We played some good football in the first-half, after conceding an early goal.
‘We responded well after that, even if there were some elements of our play that we wanted to tidy up. In the second half, I thought we coughed up a wee bit of ball again and we weren’t clinical enough. Kildare got level but the boys showed a lot of character towards the end.’
After being so economical in front of goal in the first half, when they only kicked three wides, Monaghan were a little more wasteful after the break.
‘Those are the wee things that would have disappointed us when we created the chances, we weren’t clinical enough with them. It was a very difficult day, the under-foot conditions were difficult.
‘It was so different to the last few weeks when the ground was rock-hard. Any contact at all, it was very easy to let the ball slip
out of your hands.’
For Kildare, things are simple. They have to win their next two games to have any chance of making the All-Ireland semi-final but Cian O’Neill believes yesterday’s battle was one that got away from his team.
‘Listen, whoever came out of that the wrong side would have said the same. It was nip and tuck the whole way through from the very first score, and I think it was always going to be won by the team that made the least amount of mistakes — and that was certainly Monaghan.
‘I’m not talking about forced errors — they were very strong in the tackle and full credit to them. But where we’re most disappointed is our unforced error count. We just made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes, and I think that cost us.’
O’Neill admits that it is going to be a difficult task to lift his players ahead of Galway’s visit to Newbridge. ‘Three games in four weeks was always going to be a massive challenge, no more than the four games in five weeks were in the qualifiers.
‘I mean, sometimes it takes an almighty smack in the face or a kick in the ass, which is what we got in Tullamore that time, to reboot you. But this result doesn’t change anything. Obviously if we left Croke Park with two points, it would have given you great confidence. But ultimately you were still going to have to beat Galway in Newbridge next week to see where you’re at and to travel to Killarney.
‘So, it doesn’t change anything for us. We’ve got to take it one match at a time and you go to win every match. It just makes it more difficult because now we’re relying on other results, whereas if you carry the result into next weekend and put in a big performance there, well then you’re the architect of your own destiny.
‘And maybe that’s the pressure we need to say, “Listen, we’re going one direction or the other next Sunday in Newbridge”.’