Monaghan fears video might turn nasty for Donegal and Armagh

Barry Monaghan has expressed concern at the well-highlighted post-match melee immediately after Sunday’s tense encounter between Donegal and Armagh.

The Allianz League Division 1 clash in Letterkenny ended with the home side securing a late victory thanks to a last-gasp Paddy McBrearty point giving Declan Bonner’s side a 1-14 to 1-13 win to ensure their top flight survival.
Monaghan said that while nobody likes to see such incidents, he hoped it would not prove to be costly on both counties.

“It is not the kind of thing you like to see at all,” the Four Masters clubman said. “What would worry me now is what action, if any, that the CCCC (Central Competitions Control Committee) in Croke Park are going to take. And they would be right in trying to stamp all of this out of the game.”

Monaghan added that the League Sunday highlights programme on RTE certainly gave it blanket coverage and indeed more analysis than the match itself, which was not dissected by host Joanne Cantwell and studio guests Kevin McStay and Ciaran Whelan.

“They spoke very little about the actual game itself, but they spoke more about the melee afterwards,” Monaghan added. “And they were wondering if there were any sanctions coming down the road.

“You would just fear that the CCCC could pick out two, three or four players from each squad out. There is a mentality in the GAA now where it is one in and all in which is not necessarily a good thing. Years ago, players tended to get away with those types of melees, and nobody was going to be picked out but now they have loads of video evidence that they can replay and slow down and obviously the referee and the linesmen had a good view of it as well.

“And there weren’t as many cameras in the past, but now they can examine everything in great detail. Nobody wants to see anybody suspended because, if there are suspensions handed out, you would be fearful that players from both sides could miss the first round of the championship.

Reflecting on Donegal’s Division 1 campaign, Monaghan acknowledged that it was “up and down” but the key objective of staying up had been achieved.

“Very much see saw and Donegal mixed the good with the bad,” he added. “Generally, when they had a poor performance, they rebounded with a good one.

“The Kerry game had everyone on a bit of a downer and Donegal had a poor enough first half against Tyrone and then they opened up in the second half and it was one of the best 35 minutes we have seen in a long time.

“Staying in Division One was the big goal and Donegal finished fourth and it was a very competitive division, so Donegal survived a tough division”.

And it finished with a dramatic game against Armagh with a tense finish. “Armagh did have momentum after a poor first half but Donegal were able to go up the field and get the winning score which told a lot about their character. They ground the result out well in a match where neither camp wanted to show too much of their hand ahead of the big Ulster Championship clash in a month’s time.

“Kieran McGeeney gave other players game time, and he took on Rian O’Neill in the second half and made a real contest of it. Donegal could not afford to take any such chances and had to get a result to be sure but irrespective of showing your hand or not, players’ need to be playing four weeks out. The championship is coming very early and let’s hope that both Donegal and Armagh will have full squads to pick from.”