Nickey Rackard Cup

AFTER what was an ultimately forgettable league campaign earlier this year, Monaghan turn their attention to the Nickey Rackard Cup.

The Farney hurlers are down the list of prospective winners, particularly when you consider that both Armagh and Donegal are in the running in this competition.

We can only expect that Monaghan will be out to put on a good show and cause a few shocks.

There were precious few positive surprises earlier this year for them in the league. Their one good news story was their final round win over Louth who were, as a result, relegated.

It was not a straightforward game, and they needed goals from Hugh Byrne, Stephen Lambe and Mark Treanor to make sure of the victory. The negative was that an incident at the end of the game saw Brendan McQuaid and Pauric Malone receive red cards.

Their opponents this weekend are Mayo, who were relegated out of Division 2A. They will present difficult opposition.

Lory Meagher Cup

FERMANAGH have a test on their hands as they face a Louth team who played their hurling in Division 3A.

And while the Wee county may have lost all three matches they played, they were fierce competitors. Just ask Monaghan who faced a battle with them in  the league.

If they want to win the game, then they are going to have to make sure that their defence is very well drilled. Louth are a team who have a fine spread of scorers. Against Monaghan for example there were seven different players who split the posts.  Even Darren Geoghegan was sprung from the bench and scored 0-3.

Fermanagh are usually at a severe disadvantage in that they do not have a competitive club league or championship to rely upon. They lost three of their four league games  this year, and the signs are not good.