Clerkin hails McEnaney keeper experiment a ‘masterstroke’

MONAGHAN midfielder Dick Clerkin has hailed Seamus McEnaney’s unorthodox decision to use his full-back in goals against Armagh on Sunday, describing it as a “masterstroke”.

However, Sunday’s man of the match added that his manager had also put his career on the line with a call that generated so much debate before, during and after the game at Belfast’s Casement Park.

McEnaney made the decision to play defender Darren Hughes rather than regular deputy Sean Gorman in goals when regular custodian Shane Duffy was ruled out with a quad injury on Saturday evening.

“There were going to be one of two headlines on Monday,” said Clerkin, “one if it worked and one if it didn’t.

“I’m sure Seamus would admit that he probably put his career and everything on the line with that call. He has done that in the past. It was a masterstroke. Darren didn’t have much to do but he made a cracking save and dealt with a few high balls expertly. Every credit has to go to the man who made that decision.

McEnaney’s gamble caused a minor shuffle out the field with midfielder JP Mone moving back to defence and Eoin Lennon being promoted from the bench to the engine room alongside Clerkin.

Things looked grim after the first ten minutes when Steven McDonnell threatened to run amok on the same line of the pitch vacated by Hughes but Monaghan settled and ran out winners on an amazing scoreline of 1-18 to 0-9.

Hughes – who played in goals for the county minors – coped admirably, Mone was moved onto McDonnell with great effect and Lennon enjoyed one of his best ever days in a Monaghan shirt after a number of injury-affected years.

“We had every confidence in (Darren),” Clerkin insisted.

“The only problem was we were robbing Peter to pay Paul because he has been outstanding for us all year.

“But the lads stepped in. People might have been questioning Eoin Lennon. Was he fit? He hadn’t played much football but he put in one of his best performances since I’ve been playing with him over the last few years.

“It’s a cliché that has been used about this team, about the team ethic, but it is true. When your backs are put against the wall, we can dig down and get that extra wee bit and push on like we did.”

This is Clerkin’s 11th season with the Monaghan seniors and yet he had little hesitation in declaring that this latest fixture was his most satisfying in all that time.

The defeat of Armagh was a personal as well as a collective triumph for the much-maligned Clerkin who topped an exceptional midfield display with two stunning late points. Impressive as Tommy Freeman and Paul Finlay were up front, Monaghan legend Nudie Hughes was in no doubt but that it was in the middle third where Armagh lost this quarter-final.

“You talk about midfield and it is very easy to look at the numbers eight and nine. It is about breaking ball, everyone knows that, it is about the middle eight so huge credit has to go to the half-backs.

“Damien Freeman in particular. People would have said that Father Time was calling there too but he pulled another performance right out of the top drawer.”

Their reward is an eminently winnable semi-final against either Fermanagh or Cavan on Sunday, June 27 with Tyrone and Down meeting in Casement eight days earlier.

Meanwhile Donegal forward Dermot Molloy will miss the opening game in the All-Ireland qualifier series after being hit with a retrospective four-week ban. Molloy has been suspended after the Central Competitions Control Committee asked Cavan referee Joe McQuillan to review video evidence of an incident involving Down’s Damien Rafferty in the early stages of the Ulster SFC quarter-final last week, which Tony Davis highlighted on The Sunday Game.

It’s understood that McQuillan informed the CCCC that, had he seen the incident, he would have issued a straight red card. Molloy marked his debut with a 1-3 tally in the defeat to the Mourne men, but is now set to miss out on the first round of the qualifiers that are penned in for the weekend of June 26.

The draw for the qualifiers will take place on RTE2 on Sunday at 6pm. Donegal will have some big names along with them in the hat after last weekend’s shock defeats for Mayo, Armagh and Kildare. Also in the hat will be the likes of Derry and Antrim and either Fermanagh or Cavan from Ulster, with teams such as Carlow, Tipperary, Clare, Longford also included.