Monaghan return to Croker with a spring in their step

WE are down to the last 10 in the All-Ireland SFC and of the four teams running onto Croke Park this afternoon, you would have expected three of them to be around at this stage of the summer.

The exceptions of course, are Monaghan, the surprise packages through this year's back door.

Although they shocked Meath with a last-minute goal in the NFL Division Two final, few outside the Farney camp would have thought Seamus McEnaney's side would have progressed this far.

Should they shock the country this evening and dump Tyrone out of the championship, they will earn the right to be this year's Fermanagh.

Not that there will be much money down on that. Luck of the draw has played a large part in Monaghan getting their big day out in Croker. Since losing to Derry in the Ulster championship, they have accounted for London, Wexford and Louth.

Of those three teams, Wexford was a notable scalp, though that came in a week when there was a little unrest down in the south-east.

"Wexford was the big result for us, that was a massive scalp. They are a good outfit and had just been in the National League final," McEnaney said.

Even if the road has been relatively easy, there is no disguising McEnaney's achievement in lifting the county from the doldrums. Only in the job 10 months, he has taken Monaghan from a side on the bottom rung to sharing a stage with the likes of Tyrone and Laois.

"Well, the reality is, if you look at today's game, we are facing one of the top three teams in the country and from where we are coming from, we were probably one of the bottom three teams in the country last year," he said. "There is a massive gulf there. Tyrone set out this year to regain the All-Ireland title. Our aims were to win promotion to Division One and get into the last 16 of the championship. Now we are one of the last 10 teams left, so we have gone even further."

Mickey Harte's anger over Ryan McMenamin's suspension, justified though the suspension might be, has barely subsided and there is a feeling of victimisation hanging over the losing Ulster finalists.

McEnaney doesn't think that will benefit his team, though.

"I don't think that will do anything to unnerve this Tyrone team. They have been around too long for that. If anything, it is likely to galvanise them even further."

Incredibly, this will be the second time McEnaney, a brother of the most recognisable referee in Gaelic football, has brought Monaghan to Croke Park this summer. Their dramatic victory over Meath was the first time Monaghan had played at headquarters for 17 years.

The last time they were there for a championship game was in 1988. McEnaney wasn't playing that day, but his three selectors were. He was impressed by how his youngsters handled the pressure against Meath in May.

"I think the whole Croke Park experience will count for something this weekend. One of the most pleasing aspects of that day was the complete absence of stage fright or nerves, despite the fact the players were playing there for the first time.

"This group of players don't fear anything and they have proven that from the way they reacted to the Derry defeat."

Although he won't say it, McEnaney probably regarded Ulster as a write-off this year, given the strength of the province, again shown by the presence of four northern teams in the last 10.

"I am happy with how the players have responded to the back-door system. From when we came together in February, we planted the importance of getting to the last 16 in the players' heads, regardless of how the Ulster championship went.

"If we were to win Ulster this year, we needed to beat Derry, Armagh and Tyrone, the three best teams in Ulster. That was always going to be a tall order and there is no point trying to kid players about that, so we set ourselves a more reasonable goal, and we have achieved it and done better.

"All I can ask of the 18 or 20 lads that we select to represent Monaghan this afternoon is to do their best, to come off the pitch feeling they have given it their all.

"Whatever happens, this is a critical game in our long-term plans for Monaghan football. We have gotten to a stage where nobody would have expected. This game will measure how far we have come and how far we still need to go."

And of course, on these big days in Croke Park, you just never know.

Croke Park, 4pm, Live RTÉ Two.

Boylesport Bet: Monaghan 11/2 Draw 10/1 Tyrone 1/7

TYRONE:P McConnell, AN Other, C Lawn, S Sweeney, D Harte, G Devlin, P Jordan, C Gormley, S Cavanagh, B Dooher, B McGuigan, O Mulligan, R Mellon, S O'Neill, E McGinley.

MONAGHAN: S Duffy; D McArdle, J Coyle, C Flanagan: D Freeman, V Corey, G McQuaid; D Clerkin, E Lennon; J McElroy, P Finlay, AN Other; T Freeman, H McElroy, S Gollogly.

Referee: M Monahan (Kildare).