Football – Armagh v Monaghan – Starting News, Live Scores, Betting; TV Coverage

Ulster SFC semi-final – Armagh v Monaghan – Pairc Esler – 4pm – RTE

CLICK FOR LIVE SCORES ON ARMAGH V MONAGHAN

Armagh will face-off against Monaghan at Pairc Esler in County Down this coming Saturday at 4.00 pm in the Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final.

Both sides are coming into this game with impressive and hard-fought wins in the quarter-finals. Armagh dispatched off Antrim with a score of 4-15 to 0-14. While Monaghan saw off Fermanagh with a final scoreline of 1-21 to 0-14 at Clones.

During their league campaign, Armagh was erratic. Inconsistent in their results in Division One, they won, drew, and lost one game each against three of their Ulster rivals in Donegal, Tyrone, and Monaghan.

Finishing above Monaghan by a single point in third place. Securing their Division 1 status with a comfortable 1-17 to 0-11 win over Roscommon in the relegation semi-final in June.

Their last encounter was back in May in Brewster Park of round one of both team’s league run. Armagh came out the victors in a close meeting by a score of 1-12 to 1-16. When betting online @ bet365 you can get even money on a Monaghan win.

Beaten comprehensively in last year’s Ulster semi-finalists against Donegal, they will hope to do one better and book their place in their first Ulster final since 2008.

Overall, they are not the team they once were. Looking hot and cold in their victory against Antrim, they would then face Monaghan.

Monaghan on the other hand is often seen as the dark horse when championship season comes around. Often disappointing when it comes to the crunch games.

Against Fermanagh in their last outing, they kept the Erne County’s scores from play at a minimum. With Sean Quigley’s free’s their main output with 0-7 points.

Their league campaign was awful, only surviving relegation by defeating Connacht finalists Galway, they will jump at the opportunity to redeem themselves.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Monaghan’s main scoring threat is still Conor McManus, the 34-year-old Clontibret O’Neills man driven his side to Ulster glory on two separate occasions and will hope to do so for the third time this year.

However, he can only do so much and with Monaghan having little variety in their threat going forward, an injury or an off day for the three-time All-Star could boast disaster for the Oriel County.

During their clash with Antrim, Armagh did not look like a side that could turn over teams to the extent which one would assume. Scoring 4 goals is impressive but the scoreline was not a true reflection of the game.

Looking shaky when pressed by Antrim, they looked vulnerable at times which may be a point of concern for Kieran McGeeney heading into this game.

Conclusion

If both teams play to the best of their ability, then it is a flip of a coin as to who will face either Tyrone or Donegal in the Ulster Final.

It is hard to look past Monaghan however, player for player they are superior.

Another advantage Seamus McEnaney’s side has is experienced in the past few years. Winning two Ulster titles in 2013 and 2015.

Prediction: Monaghan by 6 points

Predicted Teams – Subject to Change

Armagh

1. Brendan Hughes

2. James Morgan

3. Connaire Mackin

4. Ross Finn

5. Greg McCabe

6. Ciaron O’Hanlon

7. Aaron McKay

8. Niall Grimley

9. Oisin O’Neill

10. Jemar Hall

11. Rian O’Neill

12. Jarley Og Burns

13. Rory Grugan

14. Andrew Murnin,

15. Stefan Campbell

Monaghan

1. Rory Beggan

2. Kieran Duffy

3. Conor Boyle

4. Ryan Wylie

5. Karl O’Connell

6. Dessie Ward

7. Ryan McAnespie

8. Darren Hughes

9. Killian Lavelle

10. Stephen O’Hanlon

11. Conor McCarthy

12. Micheal Bannigan

13. Aaron Mulligan

14. Jack McCarron

15. Conor McManus

Betting

Armagh: EVS

Monaghan: EVS

Draw: 15/2