Monaghan can make breakthrough, says McEneaney

MONAGHAN manager Seamus McEneaney believes Ulster football needs a changing of the guard after years of dominance by Armagh and Tyrone and he feels his own county is primed to make the step up.

The ‘Big Two’ have treated the province as their own personal property in recent times, sharing the last nine titles between them. It is 19 years since Monaghan themselves have won the Anglo-Celt Cup or even contested the final.

But now with Armagh already facing the qualifiers, Tyrone hamstrung by injury and Donegal yet to prove their summer credentials, the battle for Ulster’s throne is more uncertain than at any time since the mid-1990s.

What’s more, Monaghan go into Sunday’s provincial quarter-final against Down knowing that Brian McIver and Mickey Harte’s boys are on the opposite side of the draw. Down and Derry know that too, of course.

‘‘All the teams are being prepared equally as well,’’ said McEneaney.

‘‘Monaghan, Cavan, Derry, Down, Antrim — all these teams are making the same effort as the big teams and it’s hard for teams to stay at the top so long as well,’’ said McEneaney who begins his championship campaign against Down on Sunday.

‘‘Tyrone and Armagh have been brilliant ambassadors for Ulster football.

‘‘Maybe it’s levelling off slightly now though. It would be brilliant for Ulster football if that new team was Monaghan!’’

Whether it is his side or not, McEneaney believes that someone new will make the breakthrough up North this summer, but he has been adamant since his very first day in the post that Monaghan were capable of taking the title.

Were he to step down tomorrow, there would be no question but that McEneaney would be leaving Monaghan in better shape from that which he found it.

His three years in situ have delivered a Division Two league title and an all round increase in standards.

Last year, they gave a glimpse of their potential by drawing with Armagh in Clones before falling six points short in the replay but McEneaney is eager for his charges to purr with a bit more consistency.

‘‘If Monaghan can get the best of what they have, you can’t ask for anything more.

‘‘This team has matured a lot. We have found a few new players. We are a better team than we were three years ago.

‘‘We are going in the right direction. We need to deliver on the big day now. We feel we’re knocking on the door.

‘‘Martin McElkennon has come in (as trainer) and really brought a fresh approach. We feel we have a very strong backroom team. We feel we have the best players in the county with us and we can’t ask for any more than that.’’