Beggan places faith in O'Rourke

Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan says it is "a relief" that Malachy O'Rourke decided to stay on as Farney County manager.

O'Rourke finally signed up for a fifth year in charge of Monaghan in August, after two months of deliberation following their All-Ireland Round Two Qualifier defeat to Longford.

In his four years at the helm, Monaghan won two Ulster championships in 2013 and 2015, the Allianz Division 2 and 3 titles, and progressed to the Division 1 semi-final in 2015.

"For the couple of weeks after the Longford defeat we didn't know whether he was going to stay on or not. But once the news eventually came that he was staying on it was relief for us," Beggan told the Irish News.

"It wasn't his fault the way we played last year against Longford. We were the ones that crossed the white line, we were the ones that made the wrong decisions but next year we're going to be hungrier.

"I remember back in 2011 and 2012 we were being beaten by Offaly and Laois. Then Longford was a tough defeat, but we’ll have to learn from it.

"And it's obviously a massive boost for us that Malachy is staying on because we want to prove people wrong next year and go further than we probably went in 2016."

Beggan has been included in Monaghan's youthful Dr McKenna Cup squad next month, with Aaron Lynch, Mikey Murnaghan, James Mealiff, Dessie Ward and Conor Forde making the step up from the U-21s, and Colleges' Allstar winner James Wilson, minor captain Michael Brannigan, Emyvale’s David McAllister and Latton’s Stephen McCabe all set to feature against Fermanagh, Antrim and St Mary's.

Photo (Inpho/ Donall Farmer)

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