After such a disappointing performance last week the Monaghan lads knew they had to goback to the drawing board as the performance from everybody involved was far from the standard expected. The Monaghan lads knew that Cavan was going to be far from an easy fixture this fixture would be billed as the local derby.
The game started with Cavan using their big runners to crash through the Monaghan defence line they did make some initial ground but eventually they were taking to ground. Majority of the first 20 minutes were spent inside the Cavan half but the first score of the game came from the Cavan winger the Cavan team stretched the Monaghan defence to the limit and this allowed the winger to sneak in, and Cavan’s outhalf kicked the conversion. The Monaghan team felt the pressure of this score as it was virtually Cavan’s first attempt to cross the Monaghan line and it worked.
Although Cavan were a physically bigger pack both scrums were fairly evenly matched Monaghan used a set piece from their scrum to get their first points on the board it was 5 minutes before half time when Ashley Berry crossed the line to score Monaghan’s first try of the day. This helped boost the moral of the Monaghan team just before half time.
The half time score stood at Monaghan 5 Cavan 7.
The second half started in the perfect fashion from a Monaghan point of view, it was from the restart when Monaghan caught the ball and spread the ball wide which allowed Ashley Berry to get over the try line Monaghan did not convert. Monaghan’s second try came soon after it was on the 4 minute mark when Darren Berry stepped up he side stepped his opposite number and he made a mad dash for the line Monaghan missed the conversion. Within the first 5 minutes of the restart the score changed to Monaghan 15 Cavan 7. This boosted the Monaghan confidence and the team started to put some good passages of play together although most of the back line had not played together they started to gel well. It was great to see two new players introduced to the team Dean McDermott & Connor Blacklock both came up through the underage ranks. Both lads played very well never shying from a tackle and proved they deserve their positions on the team. Connor showed his great ball carrying ability and he also showed alot of the senior players how to tackle and to get up and go straight for the ball. Dean is also a very strong ball carrier and is very good under a highball and can use both his pace and boot to get himself out of a sticky situation.
Monaghan’s 4th try of the match came from the flying winger Ashley Berry this helped build the Monaghan momentum as Monaghan had scored 4 times with out reply, Monaghan kicked the conversion the score now stood Monaghan 22 Cavan 7.
It was on the 31st minute when the next score came it was one of the new lad Conor Blaclock who crossed the line for his first senior try for Monaghan RFC.
During the last play Cavan sneaked in for the final score of the match this led to a 27-14 win for Monaghan.
There were some positive to be taken from this game as Cavan are not an easy team to beat and Monaghan have a few players to come back from injury hopefully they will be back before these teams meet again next time in the Gordon West Cup in Cavan on the 12th of November, also Monaghan have found 2 new young players in Connor Blacklock and Dean McDermott who both have proved they deserve a position on the team with both players scoring on their debut Dean scoring against Donegal last week.
Team: 1.Willie Patton, 2. Richard Carleton, 3. Bernard O Reilly, 4. Marc McArdle, 5.Paddy Sheridan,6. Kevin McLaughlin, 7. Graham Carleton, 8. Conleth McGillen, 9. David Berry,10. Darren Berry, 11. Ashley Berry, 12. Gary McBride, 13. Connor Blacklock, 14.Dwayne Rooney, 15. Dean McDermott.
