By Shaun Casey

AFTER a week’s break, Ryan Mellon is hoping his Ballybay side can produce the goods in the final round of the round-robin series and push on towards the knockout stages of the Monaghan Senior Championship.

The men in maroon host Aughnamullen in the final round and the winners of this particular tie will advance to the next round while the losers will concern themselves with the relegation play-offs.

Ballybay have had a mixed set of results so far in the campaign. The 2022 championship winners lost their opening round to Monaghan kingpins Scotstown before bouncing back with a win over Corduff. They then drew their last outing, 0-8 apiece, against Cremartin.

“When it’s in your own hands, I think that’s really just been our focus,” said Ballybay boss Mellon, who is in his first year in charge. “It’s a game that you have to win so that’s our focus, going out and winning the game and getting the two points on the board.

“It’s been very competitive, and we knew that was going to be the case. It’s all about the next game against Aughnamullen and getting a win and hopefully progressing to the knockout stages.”

While Aughnamullen haven’t repeated their championship heroics of last season, Mellon warns that his side won’t be taking their opponents lightly and know they are in for a tough battle.

“They’re a dangerous team,” added the two-time All-Ireland winner. “They came down to Ballybay last year in the championship group stages and won the match comfortably. When you look at the table, it’s not a great gauge.

“I think everything is so, so tight in the group and we’re just going to have to be at our best to get a result against them.”

Mellon is enjoying his first season in charge of the Pearses but has good experience of Monaghan club football having worked with Monaghan Harps in recent years. He spent last season coaching Madden in Armagh when they reached the championship semi-finals.

“The standard is very high, and I suppose I’ve benefited from seeing it before – I was in Monaghan Harps for three years, from 2019 to 2021, and that has benefited me in terms of just understanding the structures of leagues and championships.”

The former Tyrone half-forward is hoping to have a full squad to pick from this weekend but like every team, Ballybay do have their bumps and bruises.

“Going back to the start of the season, we were really down to the bare bones,” he added.

“Just with injuries and players being unavailable and obviously the county players weren’t available at that stage either. Gradually that’s starting to improve, and the county players are back now for quite a while.

“There are a couple of niggles but at this stage of the year you’re never going to be going into your games with everybody at 100 per cent. There have been some injury issues, but hopefully the majority of those will clear up in the next few weeks.”