Derry begin All-Ireland bid against familiar foes

placeholder image — Derry begin All-Ireland bid against familiar foes. PIC: Sportsfile

Derry host Monaghan at Celtic Park in the first round of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship group stage this Saturday, May 27 - throw-in is at 7pm.

Ulster champions Derry begin the All-Ireland series this weekend where they will aim to get off to a winning start against Monaghan, who they defeated in the semi-final of this year's Ulster Championship.

On that occasion, the Oak Leaf County won the encounter by eight points in Omagh having comfortably beaten Fermanagh by 12 points in the quarter-final stage. Derry's clinical forward Shane McGuigan showed his class the last time the two counties met thanks to his contribution of 0-9 (5f) of the overall 1-21 scored in that last four tie. This time around, Monaghan will try to keep tabs on the in-form Slaughtneil marksman who also played a key role in the Ulster Championship final.

It was Armagh who stood in the way of Derry in the provincial final in Clones on May 14. Both sides could not be separated at the end of both full-time and extra time with the scoreline finishing 1-15 to 0-18 after the final whistle - resulting in penalties.

McGuigan, who scored an important 0-7 (2fs) during the game, was one of Derry's penalty scorers along with Conor Glass and Ciaran McFaul. Goalkeeper Odhran Lynch was the hero of the shoot-out as his three penalty saves ensured that Derry retained the Ulster Championship crown.

Attention now turns to achieving a high finish in a group where Derry will face Donegal, Clare as well as this week's opponents Monaghan. The top team in the group advances to the All-Ireland quarter-finals while the counties finishing in second and third place will meet at the preliminary quarter-final stage.

Derry, who reached last year's All-Ireland semi-finals, will be favourites going into Saturday's fixture but Monaghan have shown that they are no walk-over having scored a late winner to triumph over Tyrone in the quarter-final stage of the Ulster Championship. Ciaran Meenagh will be in charge of the team for the rest of the campaign following Rory Gallagher's recent departure.

Supporters will be out in their numbers to support their county this weekend as Derry set about earning their first points on the board in the All-Ireland round-robin series.

For those that are unable to make the match, Derry v Monaghan will be live on GAAGO.