By Niall Gartland

IS everything coming up roses for Monaghan when it matters most? Well, manager Gabriel Bannigan points out that their well-documented injury crisis did have its silver lining.

Not only did wounded warriors like Conor McCarthy, Bobby McCaul and Killian Lavelle return to the fray in time for their Ulster Championship win against Cavan (all three were sprung from the bench), but the necessity of reaching deep into their panel during their ill-fated Division One campaign helped steel less-established names for the rigours of top-flight football.

One swallow does not maketh a summer though. They were full value for their win over Cavan (racking up 27 points was impressive stuff) but they coughed up too many goal chances and that’s a very obvious red flag heading into Saturday’s provincial semi-final clash with Derry. The Oakleafers mustered two goals against the Antrim, but it could have been so much more – 11 goal chances over the course of the game tells its own story.

“Yes, it is a concern,” said Bannigan. “When you put that alongside the fact that Cavan created six goal chances against us and took two of them, that’s the biggest area we need to improve for the Derry game. We just can’t afford to give up those kinds of chances.”

Bannigan still isn’t operating with a clean bill of health. Ryan McAnespie, Ryan Wylie and Gary Mohan remain sidelined, and Bannigan, who was speaking earlier this week, isn’t too confident that any of the aforementioned names will see action this weekend.

Asked about their chances of an imminent return, Bannigan, now in his sophomore season in charge, said: “I’ll answer that honestly. I said after the game last weekend that Ryan Wylie probably has the best chance of making it, and I’d still say that. The others just have a bit more to do. Being honest, none of them are back in full team training yet. I’m hoping I might get a couple of them back on Tuesday night, but it’s getting very close to the deadline. Tuesday is really our last main training session before the game on Saturday. We’ll train again on Thursday, but it’ll be a lighter session. It’s getting tight, to be honest.”

But still, they do have depth. Debutants Cameron Dowd and Daragh McElearney were so influential against Cavan, the subs’ list spoke for itself (McCarthy, McCarron, Lavelle and so on), while others to shine included Stephen Mooney and stalwarts like Rory Beggan and Dessie Ward. They’re in the eye of transition, but the signs are that they’ll come out the other side with a really formidable team.

“Monaghan football is definitely in transition, there’s no question about that. That’s been accelerated by the injuries we had during the league. On top of that, we’ve had three retirements from last season, and a few more from the season before. I think in total there have been 10 over the last four years – real household names in Monaghan, players with a couple of Ulster Championship medals in their pockets. They’re not all gone, but there are 10 of them retired now, and in fairness they all gave sterling service. You couldn’t question what they gave to the jersey. But you don’t just replace that level of experience overnight.

“Then you factor in the injuries we had during the league. When we went down to play Kerry in the National League, only seven of the 26-man panel had played for Monaghan the previous year – and that’s in Division One. You’re going away to play the All-Ireland champions with only seven players who featured the year before. I think that stat alone tells you the extent of what we were dealing with. The silver lining, though, was that a lot of players got big-game experience, probably more than they would have if we’d had a full panel to pick from.”

The events of recent weeks suggest that the league mightn’t carry too much weight when it comes to championship. Division One champions Donegal were put to the sword by a Down side that didn’t really perform in a Division Three final win over Wexford. Tyrone struggled in Division Two but put up a serious fight against Armagh. Then Monaghan failed to win a single game in Division One but produced a really accomplished display against Cavan. When all is said and done though, Bannigan would still prefer to play his league football at the the highest level possible.

“The championship has always been a different ball game. In terms of the relevance of what division you’re playing in, every manager will tell you that the higher the standard, the better the experience. Your players are challenged more, and you find out more about yourself. Down were relegated from Division Two to Division Three last year and were very unlucky to go down

“They came back up this year, but they were playing league football in Division Three and still went out and beat one of the big favourites for the All-Ireland (Donegal). It’s an incredible result. Having played Down in the championship last year, I know they’re a serious championship team with a strong tradition. While the result against Donegal was a shock, it wasn’t a massive shock either.”