Right when they needed it.
It may have effectively been a dead rubber, Dublin won’t be overly concerned by it but don’t let that fool you, that was a big win for Monaghan in Croke Park on Sunday.
With his side finishing up in third place in the League and just behind Dublin and Galway, Malachy O’Rourke will come out of this campaign happier than nearly all of his fellow managers.
And ahead of an Ulster championship that is always so difficult to call, Monaghan will be going into it with confidence aplenty. A win like this, not only that, but the way they did it shows they are capable of putting it up to anyone. They won’t fear anyone.
You often hear that Monaghan are punching above their weight but they’re not. If anything, this county has underachieved over the last few years and that’s meant as a compliment to them. Because Monaghan have some of the best players in the country. Geographical and population statistics may state otherwise but they are one of the biggest football counties in the country.
They may have won two Ulsters in recent years but that is the level they are at. They have a good enough team to back that up at the All-Ireland stages abut they haven’t done that yet.
Monaghan are meant to be at this level and it would be a disservice and an insult to them to say otherwise. They may be the third least populated county but that small pick doesn’t matter one bit to them. They make sure of that.
The players are there and the culture is there. Population isn’t everything. Just take a county like Galway – they may be well populated but only one half of the county plays football. Take Kilkenny, it’s relatively well populated but they don’t even have a senior football team.
In 2019 Monaghan will enter their fifth successive Division One campaign.
Monaghan played an excellent game to beat Dublin. Their astute tactics worked a treat. Their defending was rigid and aggressive, and when they broke Dublin knew all about it because they were moving at some pace.
From the livewire Karl O’Connell who seems to possess a bottomless pit of energy to Ryan McAnespie at half forward. These boys were hungry for it.
Jack McCarron was the match-winner, though.
The Currin club man has endured a strange year. At this stage in 2017 he was ripping it up and was one of if not the the best forward in the League.
Come championship that confidence that set him apart had deserted him as the wides mounted and his place on the team was questioned.
That genius, that class doesn’t leave and he’s showed that on occasions in the meantime but not consistently enough.
On Sunday, he only came on as a sub and that’s a reflection of his fall from grace but he won that game for Monaghan.
One excellent point over the shoulder was swiftly followed by this wonder goal. Clever. opportunistic. Class.
Jack McCarron lobs the keeper, what a cracker in the back of the net! pic.twitter.com/EoQXpeCAdR
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 25, 2018
Don’t for a second question whether he meant it.
After being knocked to the ground, he takes a quick look up and spots Comerford drifting off his line.
He spotted the opportunity then. He takes another look.
There is no back lift. He’s clearly trying to dink it. He wasn’t trying to put power behind it.
That is class.
Did Jack McCarron mean to chip the keeper? Yessss, all day long. What a finish. #TouchOfClass
— Killeavy13 (@StevenMcD13) March 25, 2018
