When Monaghan brought the curtain down on 2018 with a 1-20 to 1-12 victory over Antrim in the Dr. McKenna Cup, Malachy O’Rourke and his think tank had every reason to look forward to an even better 2019. The win over Antrim represented the Farney county’s 13th victory from a run of 20 games stretching back to the previous Dr. McKenna Cup campaign and when Dublin were downed in this year’s NFL, a lorry load of reasons was spawned to give Monaghan supporters every right to be optimistic about 2019. Monaghan has seldom, if ever, been blessed with the sort of strength-in-depth that it currently now boasts.
Of the team that closed the book on 2019 only Rory Beggan, Karl O’Connell and Ryan McAnespie started last Sunday’s NFL Division One match in Killarney against Kerry. For years, Monaghan were crying out for a strong bench. Now they have…
