MALACHY O’ROURKE PAID tribute to the mental strength of his Monaghan players after their extra-time victory over Kildare on a torrid evening at Croke Park.
The Ulster finalists were forced to battle every inch of the way by Jason Ryan’s Lilywhites, and O’Rourke admitted that Monaghan were not at their best in securing the win.
“I’m not sure we got the performance we were looking for, but it was enough to get us through the game,” said O’Rourke at Croke Park. “A lot of parts of the game we wouldn’t have been overly happy with.
“At a stage in the second half Kildare were in the ascendency. I suppose the goal Vinny [Corey] got was a big boost for us.
The one thing the boys showed was great character and they kept going to the end, which I knew they would and I think we got stronger as the game went on. In extra time we were probably the better team.”
O’Rourke was pleased with his team’s ability to turn Kildare over in extra time, stopping attacks “deep down the field” and driving back to get scores of their own. With weather conditions extremely testing, Monaghan were elated to emerge successful.
“They [the conditions] were very difficult not only for players holding their feet but trying to hold onto the ball; even to try and execute a simple kick pass.
“We’d like to think that was one of the reasons why some of the mistakes were made. Our overriding feeling is delight to get though. It’s a long time since the boys won a Championship match in Croke Park.”
Monaghan’s 2-16 to 2-14 victory means they now advance to an All-Ireland quarter-final against reigning champions Dublin. Jim Gavin’s side will be strong favourites to progress, but O’Rourke has been buoyed by the display of mental resolve from his men against Kildare yesterday.
“It is a testament to the character of the boys. There was different times we could have thrown in the towel and accepted it wasn’t our day. We weren’t playing particularly well at times and Kildare had a wee bit of momentum, but that’s one thing the boys didn’t do.
“They just kept working and playing for each other, playing as a team and the game went into extra time and we got stronger. There’s no doubt it’s great for confidence to win after extra time and it’s just great to know you can dig deep and dig out a result like that.”
