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Monaghan GAA thread

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Replying To seanfinn:  "Congrats to Louth. Deserved winners on the day. Monaghan, like many smaller counties, need every player available to get through these games. I think the loss of RB and KG was major to confidence. Add missing Bobby McCaul...we can't really absorb that. Jamie Mooney did really well but he was under huge pressure. I found the movement of the outfield was far too slow for the lockouts and therefore we looked slow. We could cope ok with losing RB if we had more ball winning ability in the midfield but MM was the only real option there. A big failure was not taking the advantage of the red card...it looked like we were the team with 14! There was one thing...Louth got a free with 5 mins left and I felt we had the momentum and could have drove on. I genuinely couldn't see why they got it but from there they kicked 4 unanswered points and Monaghan just gave up. I would like to see GB there next year to see how we go.

Best of luck to our neighbours from here!"
Are you referring to where McCarville got blew up after a high catch?. I was sitting in the upper Hogan looking straight down at it. I think it was Max Maguire gave the Louth player what at worst was a nudge in an effort to get to the jump. Neither himself or the Louth player were getting near McCarville so it made no difference. If that is a foul then there are fouls under every contested kickout. It was a pivotal moment in the final minutes as McCarville was away and the Louth defence were turned so there was every chance of a score, which would have put us 2 up and facing a Louth Kick out.

After that free I think the only Monaghan player to touch the ball was young Mooney in goals.

TheHunter (Monaghan) - Posts: 26 - 29/06/2026 14:14:43    2682884

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"Monaghan went 1 point up on 65.09 when McCarthy scored. McCarville won next kickout but Hurson blew it harshly for a push by another player. Next time Monaghan got hands on the ball was 68:50 and they were 3 down". From Woolys page.

Game lost right there. We just kept giving the ball away from the restarts. 4 points given away in less than 4 minutes. We lost 1, then 2, then 3 kickouts, but we kept doing the same thing. It was like watching a car crash. Why did a message not get to Mooney to slow it down, go short, anything, just make sure we got the ball? Game 100% lost on the line.

moodoo (Monaghan) - Posts: 474 - 29/06/2026 14:23:59    2682889

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Replying To seanfinn:  "Congrats to Louth. Deserved winners on the day. Monaghan, like many smaller counties, need every player available to get through these games. I think the loss of RB and KG was major to confidence. Add missing Bobby McCaul...we can't really absorb that. Jamie Mooney did really well but he was under huge pressure. I found the movement of the outfield was far too slow for the lockouts and therefore we looked slow. We could cope ok with losing RB if we had more ball winning ability in the midfield but MM was the only real option there. A big failure was not taking the advantage of the red card...it looked like we were the team with 14! There was one thing...Louth got a free with 5 mins left and I felt we had the momentum and could have drove on. I genuinely couldn't see why they got it but from there they kicked 4 unanswered points and Monaghan just gave up. I would like to see GB there next year to see how we go.

Best of luck to our neighbours from here!"
How can a team with 14 men get the last 4 scores in Croke Park in 21 degree heat. It just beggars belief. Monaghan looked all over the place and not particularly fit.

Corklegend (Cork) - Posts: 3 - 29/06/2026 14:30:13    2682899

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Replying To rw:  "Can you not read the post properly before running off with the barstool comments?

Mooney's ability was never questioned, and nobody said he was pulled in from nowhere. The point was very clear: why was Mulligan the No. 2 all year, and then Mooney only given that role in the week of our biggest game of the year?

If management had full faith in Mulligan, why change it at that stage? And if they didn't have faith in him, why was Mooney not made No. 2 earlier, especially after the U20s finished?

That is the question. The goalkeeper situation and the kick-out strategy are fair things to ask about. Beggan is getting older, and there was always a possibility of injury, so surely the back-up plan should have been clear long before last week.

This is an open forum where people are entitled to post their views. Throwing around barstool comments only shows immaturity and an inability to deal with a fair question in a mature way. Maybe it is easier to attack the poster than comment on the actual management issue, or maybe you are too close to the management team to see it clearly."
Well said it's important to knock on the head this "most passionate man in Monaghan nonsense" all supporters are the same
The Mooney call yesterday was a mistake, given that there was no kick out strategy worked on for him, one training session on Wednesday night was not going to be enough, if it was even worked on then, which I very much doubt. GB said the decision to not play Beggan was made then. Arrogance or complacency, take your choice, but it cost us. 4 points up against 14 men and our keeper essentially being forced to kick out to the opposition kept them in the game when we should have been running them ragged.
Some selection issues too. McAnespie wasn't fully fit and young Maguire would have been a much better option and he has the ability to play a similar role, the fact that we had only one midfielder on the entire squad yesterday. Louth had better midfielders on their bench than we had on the pitch. McDonell had the freedom of the pitch and Bannigan wasn't fit for him in the second half. young Doherty could have been given him something to think about, that was never going to happen.
A lot of talk about the positives in terms of new players getting game time and exposure at a higher level from this year's campaign, which is correct and right to do so, but those players are only replacing like with like
Next season in Div 2 the plan should be to stay up and unearth 2 or 3 midfielders some how and develop them into the squad. When a player gets into a county set up it's a completely different environment to develop, look at how McCarville has come on in that regard
This might all seem harsh at the moment but we were badly exposed yesterday by size, desire and commitment and we weren't ready for it. I would hope the present set up stays and learns from the mistakes from yesterday and the requirements necessary to go to the next level

mhunicean_abu (Monaghan) - Posts: 1099 - 29/06/2026 14:39:28    2682910

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