Monaghan full of belief and final ambition as they look to bridge gap to 1930
FARNEY ARMY: Monaghan supporters celebrate, on Hill 16, after the game. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Maybe we overthink all this stuff. Maybe we’ve all disappeared way too far down the rabbit hole in trying to figure out elite sport with its GPS trackers and it’s shape-shifting tactical nuances. Maybe it’s still more elemental than all that.
Monaghan find themselves in an All-Ireland semi-final this morning. This is the same Monaghan that fumbled about for a manager deep into last year, long after the vast majority of their neighbours had found a new skipper to steer the ship.
Ger Brennan, Jason Sherlock and Brendan Hackett were among those reportedly interviewed but no deal was consummated. They weren’t the only county left scrambling for a dance partner but the length of their time on the singles circuit wasn’t an encouraging sign.
Their last Ulster title had come in 2015, they still relied to a large degree on a staunch but dwindling stock of veterans, and they would perform on a floor crowded with the usual big movers and shakers that Ulster had to offer.
Vinny Corey didn’t care for any of that.
The long-time defender and recent selector accepted the baton in early September and set out his mission statement on day one with the squad. The plan was simple: to make a first senior All-Ireland since 1930. That was it. Simples.
Corey spoke after Saturday night’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Armagh with a certainty that cut through the mire of debate and doubt that had existed elsewhere. They expected to be in the last eight. And they plan on going further.
Say it. Do it. Move on. Do it again.
“There’s a lot of belief there,” he said. “We targeted this stage of the year from the very start.”
There has been no gung-ho burst for the finish line. Monaghan managed their players’ minutes at the start of the league with the new and expanded championship format in mind and all with the idea that they would peak physically in high summer. Now, basically.
Corey tipped his cap to the work done behind the scenes by their S&C coach Declan Drake, the nutritionist Ronan Doherty and a physio team that helped produce a handful of thirty-somethings who played key roles through the one hundred-plus minutes and penalties.
Nothing revolutionary, just vital building blocks.
This was the team’s third week on the spin after ties with Donegal and Kildare and yet they went step for step with a rested Armagh, neither side leading by more than a point at any stage of a game that made up in late drama for what it lacked in quality.
All last week the question had been asked as to whether the advantage lay with the four quarter-final teams who had come to the weekend on the back of some down time, or if their opponents would be sharper for their more recent exertions.
Stephen O’Hanlon and Conor McCarthy were among those to go down with cramp but so too did Aidan Forker. Neither road to Croker proved to be right or wrong on the evidence of a tie where the biggest lead held either way was a single point.
“It’s down to the players as well, it’s the mentality that they bring to it,” said Corey. “They want to go to the well, they want to keep going. They didn’t care that there was three games in a row or that there was extra-time. They want to fight to the end.
“It wouldn’t have mattered me telling Darren Hughes, ‘listen, you had a match last week’. He wouldn’t give a damn. Karl O’Connell the same. They’re built for that. They want competition and it worked out well for us.” It’s ridiculous really. A parcel of land that can only boast in and around 65,000 souls. The next smallest among the eight quarter-finalists are Mayo who cater for twice as many people inside their own boundaries.
Monaghan: the little county that could.
What comes next is the hard part. Offaly, with their history of winning senior football and hurling titles, remain the poster boys for the plucky outsider punching so high above their own weight and Corey knows they move up a division or two next.
Armagh was to all intents and purposes a 50-50 affair. Dublin, Kerry and Tyrone have all had their number at the latter stages in years past and all three are teams with a Sam Maguire level pedigree. As Corey said, this is a “mould” they need to break.
“We’ve never beaten a top three team here. That will be waiting for us the next day.”
: R O’Neill (0-6, 0-4 frees, 0-1 ‘45’); A Forker (0-3); A Murnin (0-2, 0-1 mark); R Grugan (0-2, 0-1 free); R McQuillan (0-1).
: McManus (0-4, 0-3 frees); G Mohan and C McCarthy (both 0-3); C J McCarron (0-2, 0-1 free); M Bannigan (0-2).
: E Rafferty; P Burns, A McKay, A Forker; C O’Neill, G McCabe, J Og Burns; R O’Neill, B Crealey; C Mackin, S Campbell, J McElroy; R Grugan, A Murnin, J Duffy.
Subs: C Turbitt for Crealey (45); C Cumiskey for McCabe (51); J Hall for Duffy (54); R McQuillan for Hall (65); S McPartlan for McElroy (69); B McCambridge for Forker (75); J Kieran for Burns (80); O Conaty for Campbell (90).
: R Beggan; K Lavelle, K Duffy, R Wylie; K O’Connell, C Boyle, C McCarthy; G Mohan, D Hughes; S O’Hanlon, M Bannigan, R McAnespie; J McCarron, K Gallagher, D Ward.
Subs: C McManus for Gallagher (40); R O’Toole for Lavelle (53); S Jones for McCarron (56); S Carey for McAnespie (61): K Hughes for Ward (68); C Lennon for Boyle (80); J McCarron for O’Connell (85); K O’Connell for O’Hanlon (89).
: C Lane (Cork).
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