Colin Walshe: ‘A great team will retain an Ulster championship’

They have ambitions beyond the provincial boundary, but Colin Walshe says Monaghan want to reinforce their superiority in Ulster by mounting a successful defence of their title.

In the past three seasons under Malachy O’Rourke, their dominance of the Ulster SFC was unmatched with three successive finals gleaning two titles in 2013 and 2015.

In one sense, they have nothing left to prove up north. Croke Park and the All-Ireland quarter-finals, where they have faltered three years running, should be the next step forward now. But they can still break new ground by holding onto the Anglo Celt, a mission which begins at Clones today against Down.