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26th March 2018
02:46pm BST

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.
https://twitter.com/officialgaa/status/977957038335643648
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.
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