Like father, like son as Finlay bids for Farney glory

THEY say an ounce of breeding beats a ton of feeding, and the evidence is compelling.

The Louth team that came from nowhere to get within a shocking refereeing decision of winning the Leinster title is laden with the offspring of former county players.

Their neighbours to the north-west can’t rely on as many as they attempt their own stab at history but Monaghan do have Dick Clerkin, son of Hugo, and Rory Woods, nephew of ‘Nudie’ Hughes.

And then there’s Paul Finlay. The Ballybay man has been the focal point of the Farney County’s hopes since making his championship debut against Armagh in Clones in 2003.

Even at that stage, he was comfortable in the spotlight, scoring eight of his team’s points as they downed the All-Ireland champions 0-13 to 0-9.

Inevitably, the terrace veterans reminisced. Kieran Finlay won two Ulster championship medals in 1979 and 1985. He is a hero in Monaghan because of his exploits that first year, when the men in white and blue ended a 41-year famine.

Finlay snr scored 1-9 to beat Donegal and that was an Ulster final record until Oisín McConville notched up 2-7 for Armagh against Down 20 years later.

This boy was cut from the same cloth but if he felt the pressure of expectation, it never showed.

That is due to Kieran’s support. There is a bit of craic around the house this week and Paul would love to be able to place at least one championship medal next to his father’s pair, but really, it’s about him and Monaghan, not about matching anyone else.

“There’s always been a bit of banter but in my case it’s always been encouragement and a want for me to try and achieve the best I can and be the best I can be” says Paul.

“I’m grateful to my father for always advising me and trying to improve my game no matter what it took and no matter when it was. Since I started playing football he has always been there.”

Kieran was at his best at full-forward and though Paul has often been utilised at midfield, he too is a natural finisher. Did he end up there because of his old man? “I’m not a 100% sure how I came to be there. I think it’s just a case of the club felt I was maturing into a guy that could do a lot of scoring.

“I started off getting scores early on and as time progresses you either materialise into a forward or a back and I was always destined to be a forward or a midfielder. I always fancied myself to be able to kick scores off either foot and that translates into being a forward.”

Father and son will always have a bit of debrief after every game.

“I’m still living at home so there’s plenty of time for post-mortems, going through games. We get on pretty well together and it’s always been the case of trying to improve on something.”

He laughs at the suggestion of him entering veteran status. This may be his eighth championship but he is only 27, and he is desperate to have an Ulster title to make up for Monaghan’s disappointments along the way.

“We’ve definitely brought Monaghan to a different level of those last five or six years. We haven’t stepped through and won a title yet but that’s what we’re ultimately trying to get.

“We respect what Tyrone have done over the last number of years but we feel that we’re at a stage now where we’re playing well enough, we have the confidence in our own ability to express ourselves.

“The team has gelled together even further this year. Hopefully we’ll put in a good performance in the final. We know it’s going to take that to win it and hopefully we’ll be good enough to do it.”