O’Rourke must lift flagging spirits

THE Monaghan players looked shell-shocked after being caught on the line by David Clifford’s late heroics. Malachy O’Rourke’s toughest job over the past 13 days will have been to lift the mood of his dressing-room. The Monaghan boss (below) will have drilled into his players that they still have a chance of making an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time in 30 years. Deep down, what happened in Clones will gnaw away at their inner belief. It is not the first time this summer that Monaghan have been hit by a bodyblow. Fermanagh’s Eoin Donnelly did it in Ulster. And it is not the first time they have been robbed by Kerry — in 2007 they led the Kingdom for 69 minutes in the All-Ireland quarter-final and lost. In that context, it will be a true test of O’Rourke’s managerial skills to eradicate all negative thoughts from his players. For Galway, the task is different. Kevin Walsh must guard against complacency. He will want to beat Monaghan, not to avoid Dublin next week, but simply to keep their momentum going. When their performance levels dropped in previous years, against Tipperary and Kerry, we all saw what happened. He may change things up, rest players who have niggles, just to protect them ahead of the semi-final. Momentum is huge for this Galway team because at this stage of the summer, it looks like being a golden year for Gaelic Games in the county. The hurlers, the camogie side, and the Ladies footballers are all doing well. With the races on this week, and the hurlers preparing for their replay. Walsh was able to prepare for this game under the radar. That will have suited him. He knows there is plenty of work still to be done. Conor McManus will again be key for Monaghan but Galway play with a sweeper so McManus won’t have the freedom he had against Kerry. So, Galway to survive in Salthill, giving Kerry a semi-final place by the back door. That means Dublin playing Kerry next Saturday evening and Galway against Tyrone the following afternoon in the semis. That will be some weekend.