By Michael McMullan

MONAGHAN hope the competitive nature of their league campaign in Division Two will stand to them against Cavan in this Sunday’s Ulster Intermediate semi-final.

Farney captain Amy Garland – twin sister of Lauren – has been putting the finishing touches to her final year studies in Ulster University.

It’s been a busy five weeks since their final league game against Westmeath.

Garland has been mixing studies with training. There were two rounds of club action with Donaghmoyne as the Monaghan management released their panel before tucking into championship preparation.

A look through their league campaign and the heavy defeat at the hands of Galway was the only outlier. There were narrow wins over Roscommon and Tipperary with a bit more to spare against Clare. They were well placed against Donegal until an injury time goal. Westmeath had four points to spare.

“Galway were a serious team,” Garland said. “Cork came down (from Division One) as well last year too so two teams that came down went straight back up.

“It was probably good in a sense to get playing them Division One teams because you never know where you really stand against them.

“Donegal was the last kick of the ball on a day we could have probably come out with a win

“In the Cork game, we showed we could probably compete against a Division One team,” she said of the 1-9 to 1-3 defeat.

“We did fierce well in the league campaign so hopefully we can bring that into the Cavan match.”

The twins’ older brother David is part of the Monaghan attack that shot their way to the Division Two title.

Their club is Donaghmoyne, a hotbed of GAA. Having played for the club seniors – one of the game’s all-time landmark teams – since her mid-teens, there is a love of football. It’s a religion of sorts.

She got hooked on the passion of a team who were conquering all before them.

“The will to win was unbelievable, the mentality they had when I was coming in, I just enjoyed every moment of it,” she said.

There is a similar mood in the Monaghan squad among a group she has grown up with.

“We have leaned on each other when we need to,” she said of the bond. “Friends there for life and helping through college and things like that.

“There is a good core there and I think probably we really showed it in the league this year.”

Now it’s about the Ulster Championship and Garland is fully aware what Cavan will bring from their own league season after clinching promotion to Division Two after being relegated the previous season.

“They have done serious, serious work,” she said. “They’re a serious team and the scores they’ve put up in Division Three are immense.

“We played them last year in the league, up in Cloughan. We came out with the win that year but they’ve got a couple of players back so we’ll not look too much into that game going into this one.”

Pull quote

“There is a good core there and I think probably we really showed it in the league  this year.”