Paul McGrane Backs Monaghan Before Armagh V Monaghan Final
Paul McGrane expects Monaghan to walk into armagh v monaghan with no fear on Sunday, and he says Armagh should be wary of what comes with that. Monaghan are chasing their first Ulster title since 1988, while Armagh are trying to end an 18-year wait of their own.
McGrane on Monaghan
“There's a Monaghan team coming that are Ulster club champions, on their own patch and the display of grit they showed against Derry and to do what they did with the sideline points, they'll relish playing Armagh,” said McGrane, the seven-time Ulster Championship winner and former Armagh captain.
He added: “They'll have no fear playing them.” That is the sharpest read on the final from someone who last lifted the Anglo-Celt Cup for Armagh in 2008. Monaghan have already beaten Armagh in the Ulster SFC in 2021 and again in the All-Ireland in 2023, and that record sits behind the confidence McGrane is talking about.
Armagh's scoring edge
Armagh arrive with numbers that explain why they are being tipped as favourites. They have won their three Ulster games to date and scored 100 points across them, then backed that up with a 28-point victory over Down in the semi-final.
McGrane said Armagh will be “very wary” of giving away frees with Rory Beggan on hand for Monaghan. That warning points straight at the one area Monaghan can punish them in a tight final, especially after recovering from a poor league campaign to reach Sunday’s game.
Ulster pressure at Croke Park
The pressure sits on both counties in different ways. Armagh have not won an Ulster title since 2008 and have had three successive Ulster defeats, even while staying up in Division One and bringing younger players through alongside older ones.
Monaghan’s path has been the harder one to explain in simple terms: a poor league campaign, then a run that carried them to a final where they can end a 1988 wait. McGrane’s view is that the baggage of recent defeats does not follow this Monaghan side into Sunday, and that makes the final a cleaner contest than the favourites’ tag suggests.
