It’s Kil or be killed MONAGHAN BOSS MAL KNOWS MOMENTUM IS WITH LILIES..AND THAT MAKES THEM A THREAT

The Farney blazed a trail through the qualifiers after crashing out of Ulster to take their place in the Super 8s.

But boss O’rourke said opponents Kildare have been the big story from the back door series, morphing from zeroes to heroes.

Nobody gave the Lilies a chance of reaching this point after losing to Carlow in Leinster.

But they bounced back with wins over Derry, Longford, Mayo and Fermanagh.

O’rourke said: “There’s no doubt momentum is a big thing and we’ve got a bit of that but our wins have also come against teams that we would have been expected to beat. It’s a different kind of momentum to Kildare.

“The momentum that Kildare have is that wee bit stronger. They beat Mayo, who everyone knew was going to be a really tough challenge, they were very impressive against them.

“They were very impressive against Fermanagh as well and obviously Fermanagh beat us in Ulster.

“We’re not making excuses, we’re exactly where we want to be.

“We’re part of the top eight teams in the country and we’re delighted to be there, it’s up to us to try to make the best of it – but we respect what Kildare have done in the last few weeks.”

Monaghan have incredibly never won an All-ireland quarter-final tie, playing five since 2007 and losing the lot.

They’re guaranteed three games at this stage this year, though with Kerry and Galway to play after today this is