Monaghan United -v- Waterford United

• Andrew Cunneen
• Thu, Aug 18 2011


The battle of the United’s sees Monaghan host Waterford in Gortakeegan on Friday night, in a game which the Mons must win to re-establish their two point lead over Cork City in the automatic promotion spot. (Kickoff 8pm)

Monaghan, who sat out last week's league programme due to the flawed bye-week system, now tackle a highly confident Waterford United side who trounced Athlone Town by five goals to one last weekend. Paul Murphy will be the man to stop; scoring a hat-trick in the Athlone game, and looking in fine form all round.

Monaghan are Waterford’s bogey side however, and have won the last seven ties between the sides. Roddy Collins’ reign over Mons begun with a 2-0 win over the Blues all the way back in March. With Waterford’s last win in Monaghan coming in 2000, this tie seems rather beyond the reach of the Suirsiders if one was basing their judgement on recent meetings.

The sides last met in Waterford in May as a Sean Brennan goal was enough to secure the points for Mons. However with Waterford in goalscoring form, Monaghan's rearguard will have to be in fighting form to prevent Murphy from rampaging once more.

Roddy Collins is happy with his side's return to action. He said: “It’s great to be back in action especially in Gortakeegan in front of the home fans. We could have done without the most recent lay off, however we were able to utilise the time well with some excellent training sessions. With all our recent signings it was important to have these workouts to acclimatise the players to each other. Since our last game against Athlone Town I have signed Willo Mc Donagh from Glenavon and Paddy Andrews who would be better known for his exploits on the Gaelic fields with the Dubs. I believe that both players will be very influential for us during the remainder of the season. Mentioning the Athlone game, again a very satisfying performance, the score line didn’t flatter us but we created so many chances, dealt very capably with anything they threw at us, and we had three players making home debuts so everything considered I was well satisfied.”

Waterford United captain, Kevin Murray, was in a buoyant mood after his sides victory against Athlone: "I felt that kind of result was coming for a long time. We have been getting some good balls into the box for a while but we were not finishing and that was the problem, but tonight it all came right. We still have Willie John Kiely and Michael Coady to return and this result will put us in good heart as we travel to Monaghan. We are coming on nicely, and with two big games to look forward to the buzz is back in the dressing room."

Monaghan United:
Injured: Conor McMahon.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.

Waterford United:
Injured: None.
Doubtful: Connor Sinnott, Michael Coady, Willie John Kiely.
Suspended: None.

Referee: Darren Coombes.
Paddy Power Odds:Monaghan 10/11; Draw 9/4; Waterford 5/2.
Extratime prediction: Monaghan to win 3-1.