By Shaun Casey

MONAGHAN have suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two championship outings, but they can save their season and extend their championship run with a win against Offaly on Sunday.

The Farney ladies lost the Ulster final to Down by the minimum of margins having produced an incredible second-half comeback. They then conceded six goals to Clare in the opening round of the All-Ireland series.

That put Darren Greenan’s side on the back foot immediately and given that Clare have won both their opening round group games, Monaghan are fighting for second place when they travel to Glenisk O’Connor Park.

“This is do or die,” said skipper Maeve Monaghan.

“We definitely don’t want to be in a relegation battle. I remember our fall from senior football just a few years ago and it’s a tough blow for the county, not just the team.

“I think the do-or-die attitude isn’t a bad thing though because I think what we need is a bit of a kick up the bum to get going. This is the reality now and if we don’t do it on the day, we can’t just accept defeat.

“It’s about getting over the line and making sure that it happens because we need a definite result. Offaly are no small team either, we have a tough opponent there.”

Heading into the All-Ireland series after such a tough Ulster final defeat wasn’t easy but it was all about getting the disappointment out of their system and Monaghan feels like her side have done that now.

“I think we weren’t expecting such a poor performance on our behalf in the first half,” added Monaghan, reflecting on the Ulster final.

“To go out in the second half then, all guns blazing, it just wasn’t enough.

“We just said we can’t win a game in 30 minutes. But we still showed our determination and our character, and we showed what we are able to do in the second-half.

“We came out second best against Clare, but that game was just about getting the wheels turning again after the disappointment of the Ulster final. Especially when you know you’re so close to the likes of Down who were Junior All-Ireland champions last year.

“It’s just getting everyone moving and together again, all the wheels in motion, all the cogs in the wheel need to get moving. We’re a team of one and to get over the line, we need to be all together as one and playing well together.”

The concession of six goals in that Clare game is a worrying statistic, however, and that’s something they’ll certainly be working on.

“We’ve been analysing the game, and we can see that we made a lot of mistakes,” Monaghan added.

“It’s just about lifting it now and getting it a real positive vibe going.

“In fairness to the girls, they’ve been really positive, and it just shows how we are as a team and who we are.”