THE BREAK BALL COUNT
Midfield will be a heavily congested area on Sunday. With Monaghan, and perhaps Fermanagh, likely to withdraw a a man from their full forward lines to play around the middle there could be anything up to twenty bodies around this area. So expect plenty of bumping and shunting in this area on Sunday.
Mark Murphy, in particular, for Fermanagh has the potential to pluck a few from the clouds while Eoin Lennon and Paul Finlay are fine fielders for Monaghan but with clean catches expected to be at a premium it will be the break ball count which could decide who holds sway in the middle of the field. And as the old cliché goes, break ball is all about hunger, something both sides would appear to have in abundance so we could see this sector, excuse the pun, break even on Sunday.
FERMANAGH FORWARDS NEED TO FIRE
Fermanagh's scoring power has greatly improved this year in comparison to last season but the attack still must prove themselves in the white heat of Championship. On Sunday at the minimum 12 points needs to be the target. Fermanagh should be well capable of this but more players need to step up to the plate. Eamon Maguire has been performing well all year but he needs more sustained support. Ryan Keenan seems to be running into some good form and will be looking to chip in with a number of points. While the likes of Ciaran McElroy, Mark Little, Matthew Keenan, Tom Brewster and James Sherry are more than capable of cutting loose and kicking points from play. Added to this is the threat of either Mark Murphy or Martin McGrath at full forward both of whom should prove a handful for the Monaghan defence. The question is whether enough Fermanagh forwards can fire at the one time. We think yes!
STOPPING MONAGHAN'S TWIN ATTACK
Tommy Freeman and Vincent Corey are likely to line out as a twin attacking force for the Monaghan men on Sunday and both are capable of being match winners on their day. Freeman is a class act and a current All Star and will take some serious watching. Irvinestown's Shane Goan will probably pick up the flying Freeman but his task will be made somewhat easier if further out the field, pressure can be put on the deliveries to assure that the ball coming in is 50/50. But Monaghan will resort to long, high diagonal balls into the heart of the Fermanagh defence after this area was exposed by Wexford in the league final.
Still though, O'Rourke should have patched this up and even in the absence of Barry Owens and, more recently Shane Goan, Fermanagh, in the shape of Hugh Brady, have a player capable of dealing with the long bombs.
FREE-TAKING
This is one area where Monaghan appear to hold the upper hand. Paul Finlay is renowned as one of the best left footed free takers in the business and on the other side Tommy Freeman is well capable of converting from the dead ball.
In the league, Matthew Keenan has been hitting most of the free kicks from the right hand side and with reasonable success.
The other side is a problem and in the continued absence of Ciaran O'Reilly, Fermanagh will need to have found a reliable place kicker as this game could come down to a single score.
THE BREWSTER FACTOR
Returning to the home sod of Brewster Park for the first time since 2006 should fire Fermanagh up.
However, it is important that mentally they do not place too much emphasis on this point. Yes, playing in front of a large crowd home crowd will be a boost but recent history, 2001 to be exact, shows that Monaghan have crashed our party before in Brewster Park.
Instead Fermanagh should treat the venue and game like all others this year and ensure that they do not get over-hyped for the occasion.
