By Shaun Casey

A SPOT in the league semi-finals against table toppers Ballybay is up for grabs this weekend as Aughnamullen take on Monaghan Harps, though manager Peter Nugent says there’s plenty of food for thought ahead of the fixture.

Aughnamullen tasted defeat to the Harps when the sides clashed in the league back in round five. One point separated the teams in the end, and Monaghan Harps finished one-point above Aughnamullen in the league table.

“They deservingly beat us six weeks ago in Aughnamullen,” Nugent recalled. “It was a keenly contested game, and Monaghan Harps finished the game very well. We started well but they wrestled the game away from us in the second half.

“They have a lot of impressive forwards and on that particular day they were dominant around the field, so we know we have a lot of work to do around both sets of kickouts and in our attacking play. We have a lot of food for thought.”

Monaghan captain Mícheál Bannigan has returned to club action following the Farney County’s exit from the race for Sam Maguire. He made his mark with a haul of 1-6 last weekend against Castleblayney.

“Mícheál’s not one to shirk responsibility and he came back from Monaghan duty and was straight into the team on Saturday night. He kicked 1-6, 1-2 from play and made his mark immediately,” Nugent added.

“Mícheál leads by being a doer. His actions on the training ground and in around the group, and most importantly on game day, are absolutely exemplary. Mícheál being back is going to be absolutely key to everything we do moving forward.”

Aughnamullen have won five of their nine league games to date and Nugent is happy with how they have progressed.

“We had an indifferent start to the league. We had a couple of early wins and a couple of early defeats. There were some defeats that we wouldn’t have been overly happy with as we dropped below our standard.

“We feel as the campaign has gone on, we’ve got stronger with players returning and a few players finding form. We have a few younger players stepping up, a couple of lads that are still minors but have really held their own.

“At the start of the year it was all about building the panel and we have 25 or 26 players now available which is very pleasing.”