Monaghan have proven to be one of Tyrone’s fiercest rivals over the last ten years. In 12 encounters between league and championship, Tyrone have seven wins to Monaghan’s five.
However, Omagh has not been somewhere Monaghan fear with them prevailing there twice in Ulster Championship encounters in 2014 and 2018. Crucially it has been Tyrone who have ended Monaghan’s summer in the All Ireland series in 2013, 2015 and 2018 at Croke Park, with plenty of controversy in those games.
Division 1 North is well poised with all four teams capable of reaching the semi-finals or slipping into a relegation playoff. Armagh disposed of Monaghan easily enough in Round 1 but Monaghan put four goals past Donegal in Round 2. Monaghan probably should have seen Donegal off but the game finished a draw.
Monaghan have been in Division 1 since 2015 and it is unlikely they will surrender their top flight status without a fight. Their boisterous manager Banty McEnaney remains suspended from the side-line for lockdown training breaches but their tallyman Conor McManus will make his first start of the season.
One thing which is becoming clear is that the Logan-Dooher management are not revealing their teamsheets as early as their opponents. Mickey Harte kept plenty of tricks up his sleeve with late changes but the current management are keeping it all hush hush until the 11th hour. It’s unlikely they know their best team just yet and we have attacking options yet to be utilised this season. Among them are Ronan O’Neill, Lee Brennan, Conor McAliskey and Cathal McShane.
Tyrone will benefit from having 500 fans at Healy Park on Saturday evening. I sadly won’t be there with the lion’s share of the tickets being raffled up by clubs in the county among their members. It will be a welcome return for those lucky enough to be there but hopefully the permitted capacity will increase steadily over the course of the summer and we all get a few days out.
Unofficial Tyrone 