Monaghan ready for debut clash on Leeside

A LITTLE bit of history will be made in Páirc Uí Rinn tomorrow night when Monaghan footballers line up against Cork in a crucial Allianz National Football League clash.

Saturday’s match is vital to Monaghan in terms of their prospects of qualifying for the final.

And it will mark their first ever competitive game in Cork. In the history of the National League, going back to 1925, there have only been two other meetings — both in Monaghan.

The first was in Carrickmacross in the 1987/88 campaign and they met in Castleblaney in the concluding round of the 2006 competition. On both occasions Cork won and the score was the same in both games, 1-9 to 0-8.

The counties also clashed in the 1988 All-Ireland semi-final, when Cork triumphed 1-14 to 0-6, before losing to Meath in the final.

According to Monaghan PRO Sean McKenna, the game has generated a lot of interest among supporters, partly because of its novelty and because the team has been doing so well.

“It’s not often we meet. The talk is that a lot of people are going to make a weekend out of it. The fact of the game being on Saturday night means people can have a bit of craic after and travel home at their ease on Sunday.’’

He also pointed out that other than Monaghan losing to Meath in last season’s Division Two semi-final, the last game they lost in the preliminary series was the one to Cork two years ago, in the last round. Cork were down to 14 men but finished strongly after sub Philip Clifford set up Kevin O’Sullivan for the only goal of the match.

Currently, Monaghan are one of only five teams in the league who remain unbeaten, although Fermanagh in Division 3 have the distinction of being the only one of the 33 counties (including London) with full points.

Galway lead Division 1 with four wins out of five (they lost to Donegal).

In Division 2, Monaghan and Dublin have dropped just one point each, from their draw in Parnell Park, Wexford who are second behind Fermanagh in Division 3 drew one game (with Limerick) and in Division 4 Antrim dropped a point to Offaly.

With two rounds to play, scoring difference will decide the two teams in each group to contest the divisional finals. Likewise, it will determine finishing positions in terms of relegation, which will see two teams drop down from Divisions 1, 2 and 3 — to be replaced by the first and second-placed teams in Divisions 2, 3 and 4.

Note: In 1981, Monaghan champions Scottstown played St Finbarr’s in the All-Ireland club football semi-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The Barrs won and went on to win the second of three titles with a team which included Teddy Holland, ousted as Cork boss this year after the players’ strike.