DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
No point wallowing after Dubs defeat says Farney ace, we have to learn fast
IF Monaghan learned anything from last year, it’s to not give too much respect to their rivals in 2018.
After a very promising league campaign that almost saw them reach the final, the Farney men bowed out of the championship in timid fashion against threein-a-row hunting
Dublin.
It’s something that goalkeeper Rory
Beggan wants to put right from the start of this year’s Allianz
League on Sunday.
“Maybe we just paid too much respect to
Dublin,” reflected the 25-year-old. “They were on the ball a lot and creating openings
– we should’ve got tighter on them.
“We were very confident going in and hopeful of getting a result. I felt we were well equipped to deal with them but if
Dublin get a run on you they’re hard to stop.
“When we had the ball, we didn’t do enough with it. Whenever they had it, we just weren’t aggressive enough or tight enough to them. That was our downfall. It’s hard to get over a result like that, especially the nature of it – it’s a 10-point defeat in the end.
“You’re down for a few weeks, but you’re not long getting back to the reality of wanting to do well for the club.
“Ultimately it’s about trying to improve for this year. We’ll learn what we can from it. There’s no point in wallowing in it.”
Beggan would love to see Monaghan’s opening League foes Mayo end their long famine and win the All-ireland title one year soon.
“You’d like to see Mayo cross the line some day. I’ve a feeling they will lift the Sam Maguire, it’s just a matter of when,” said the Games Promotion Officer. “It’s hard to see them fall at the final hurdle every year, so I hope one day they do win it – the same as ourselves. As long as it’s not the year we’re in the final with them.”
Mayo travel to Clones without the injured Lee Keegan, Seamus O’shea, Tom Parsons, Donal Vaughan and Chris Barrett (all above). Alan Dillon has retired.
“I wouldn’t read too much into injuries, especially with Mayo,” insisted Beggan. “Play- ers will come in keen to impress – they’ll want to help them drive on to win the championship.
“I think it’ll actually help them along. They’ll have hunger, and the experienced players there will help them.”
But Beggan is eyeing up the two points to kick-start what he predicts will be a closely fought campaign.
“The priority is to get two points, which would be a real confidence booster, to move on and keep picking them up,” he said.
“This is the toughest division we’ve been involved in. The teams coming up are well suited to Division One.
We’ve three very tough games to begin with.
“Last year we had a great
League campaign. You always need players coming in and hopefully they make a statement, like Conor Mccarthy and Jack Mccarron did.
“They’ve a year under their belts now. Hopefully that helps us. We feel like we can go well again.”