Structures in place for Monaghan's minor march

NEXT GENERATION: Monaghan minor manager Dermot Malone. Pic: INPHO/Cathal McOscar

It has been 84 years since Monaghan’s one and only All-Ireland minor football final appearance. The individual seeking to mastermind the bridging of that gap is both a managerial rookie and a recent retiree from the playing ranks.

A “dodgy knee” forced Dermot Malone to step away from the Monaghan senior set-up at the age of 31 two winters ago. Less than a year later, the 32-year-old was appointed Monaghan minor manager. His apprenticeship had been a solitary spring serving as selector with the county U20s.

Dermot Malone. Deep end. Splash.

And it’s not as if the job he was being thrown into was free of expectation. Monaghan reached a three-in-a-row of Ulster minor finals between 2018 and ‘20. They won the first two of them and came within one score of reaching the All-Ireland decider in ‘18.

The county’s underage structures are strong. So too is their production line. Malone’s job was and is to utilise the former to improve the latter.

Before all that, his first job was to surround himself with the right people. In doing so, he was simply following the template that has served the county so well at underage over the past decade.

“Monaghan have a lot of good people in the right places. They’ve got the right coaches, the right S&C people, and we are seeing the benefits of it. And I don’t think it is completely finished either as more can still be done within the schools.” 

Paul O’Connor was Malone’s coach when he himself was climbing the underage ladder in the mid-noughties and the two-time Ulster SFC winner knew the emerging generation would also benefit from O’Connor's guidance. Barry McKenna, who is heavily involved on the S&C side within the Monaghan development squad system, has been another very valuable hand at the tiller.

“I wasn't expecting to come into management this early. My dodgy knee probably sped up that process. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted and you are balancing a lot of plates,” said the former forward of his first year in the main sideline bib.

“When you lose, you do feel a heck of a lot more responsible. I know when you lost as a player, you'd be disappointed in your own performance and this and that, but whenever you lose as a manager, you feel disappointed for everybody out there.

“On the flip side, it is so satisfying when you win. We have had a couple of great scenes in dressing rooms after games and lads up dancing on tables. There is a great atmosphere and a bit of craic out of them.” 

Monaghan’s rising stars have had a couple of fiercely satisfying victories en route to Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry.

After an 11-point Ulster round-robin defeat to Derry, they bounced back with a 6-5 penalty shootout win over Tyrone in the provincial semi-final.

After losing the Ulster final to Derry on penalties, they bounced back with an eight-point All-Ireland quarter-final win over Connacht champions Mayo.

Next up are Kerry. Another victory there will secure a first All-Ireland final appearance since 1939. Malone doesn’t see much value in getting to a final if they don’t go the distance. That, mind, is a conversation for another day.

“I'll worry about any final if we are able to get over Kerry first. I've watched a lot of Kerry over the past fortnight, and they have some fabulous footballers. They probably have one of the best forwards in the country in Paddy Lane.

“We're not afraid to mix it up and get 15 men behind the ball, which is maybe slightly unlike Kerry, but we'll have our hands full no doubt.”