There are a lot of talking points after last night Monaghan can feel annoyed about losing but do can we. Rowland hitting the post in the first 2 minutes, Forker missing two, Nugent missed one which seemed to be particularly frustrating for McConville on commentary, the penalty that should have been a goal, the spurred goal chances. They would have been worth as much if not more than their missed chances.
It always feels like Monaghan like to control the tempo of games and teams let them. I suppose they welcome the pushing up on them tactic when conditions are favourable as Beggan has a huge kick on him. Last night we could press up on them and put them under pressure and It worked to an extent.
The referee kept slowing down the kick outs along with the clowns who kept kicking the ball out on to the pitch when Hughes was preparing to kick out. However, we knew teams were going to do this eventually. We can use teams pushing up on us as a tactic that would favour us by punishing anyone who presses. Or develop another kick out strategy. This isn't a criticism if Hughes because it is down to players not making themselves available but there is an indecisiveness that unsettles me but I think that was also down to the problems associated with the extra ball and referee not allowing quick kick outs. We are going to need a few strategies here otherwise we aren't going to have much of a championship. Not blaming anyone as these tactics have been working but thankfully it was Monaghan that have exposed this weakness and not Donegal in the championship.
This wasn't a game for Hall as he couldn't really run anywhere in those conditions. O'Neills injury didn't look good at the end when he had two people carrying him to the changing rooms at the end. Turbitt has had 30 minutes of football and already has 1-1 to his name.
It is hard to tell in those conditions but I would suspect the bar for fitness levels have been set higher over the break. There were times we just looked lethargic whereas Monaghan looked in much better shape. There were a few players that looked a bit sluggish.
Other than for the decision making, poor handling of the ball, poor shooting and lack of composure on the ball there is not much else to be said. I think the players know they had a shite game but still managed to do enough to get the point. The main aim of division one is to stay in division one. Personally I do not care about winning the league but our remaining fixtures are Mayo, Kildare, Kerry and Donegal. I would rather pick up the points we need in the next two games and play Donegal in particular with an experimental team. Wouldn't want them to be getting too familiar with us but on the other hand we might need to see where we stand.
Anyway heads up everyone. We managed a point yesterday even when playing crap. The two points would have been ideal but another two points and we are safe. I know we have what it takes to stay in the division it is just up to management to resolve the current problems and get over the line next week or the week after. We have McGeeney who knows this Kildare team and Donaghy who knows the Kerry team so have some knowledge of the opposition in the remaining fixtures