All roads will lead to Croke Park as Donegal are set to face off against provincial rivals Monaghan in this afternoon’s All-Ireland Quarter-Final.
Jim McGuinness’ side have defeated Monaghan once this year already, in a tight and tense Ulster Quarter-Final contested in Clones where Donegal escaped with a two-point victory on the road to their second Ulster title in a row.
Despite that defeat, Monaghan have kept up strong momentum in the two months since – racking up result after result, sneaking in the back door and winning their All-Ireland group.
Donegal will still be seen as the favourites, but one thing in favour of the Farney men may be the massive difference in schedules both teams have had.
Donegal’s Ryan McHugh gets his pass away under the watchful eye of Monaghan’s Mícheál Bannigan during their Ulster Championship clash earlier this year. Photo Evan Logan
Ever since their preliminary round victory over Derry, Donegal have played eight Championship games this season – as they won Ulster, and then as a result of their second-placed All-Ireland group finish, also were handed a preliminary Quarter-Final just six days ago against Louth.
That gauntlet will mean that today’s clash against Monaghan will mark Donegal’s ninth Championship game of the year, and their fourth game in June alone – the same total Monaghan have played altogether in this year’s Championship.
Since their defeat to Donegal on the 20th of April Monaghan have only played three games in total, all of which being their All-Ireland group fixtures – and as they topped their group, they got a bye straight into the Quarter-Final.
Throw-in this afternoon at Croke Park is at 4pm, with large swathes of Donegal fans already well on the way to Croker for the massive tie.
However for fans staying at home, there will be no live television coverage of both Croke Park clashes held today.
Both Donegal v Monaghan and Tyrone v Dublin afterwards are only available via the GAA+ streaming service.
