Monaghan look for elusive Ulster title

15 Jul 2010

Ahead of the Monaghan versus Tyrone Ulster Final this Sunday, Christy O’Connor looks at the playing style of Monaghan and wonders whether their new found emphasis on attack will see them winning their first county final in 22 years.

When Monaghan met Armagh in last year’s All-Ireland qualifier, two Monaghan supporters held a banner behind one of the goals, which was designed for liberal interpretation but dramatic effect. It was an outline sketch of an umbrella placed beside the words “is a tool”. It was clearly aimed at Joe Brolly, who had been scathing of Monaghan after their Ulster quarter-final against Derry. For a county which produced the renowned Patrick Kavanagh, it was taking poetic licence to a whole new level.

Before Monaghan met Armagh again in this year’s championship in May, Brolly said that he had always admired the honesty and intensity of their football but that he expected Monaghan “to bring war again”. At that stage, Monaghan had almost become inseparable from comparisons with warfare because they’d been involved in some of football’s most recent notorious battles; against Dublin in the 2008 league; last year against Derry. Their qualifier win against Armagh last summer was another rugged, hard hitting game, where the free count was as high as 82 and there wasn’t a single clear-cut goal chance eked out through smothering blanket defending.

Outside of the big powers and nouveau riche, Monaghan are one of the very few counties with the potential to win a provincial title. Yet they were never regarded as a champion of the underclass because they remain largely unloved for their abrasive style of play. Monaghan are blessed with some good footballers but playing on the edge, getting in the opposition's face and turning matches into pitched battles has been one approach they have occasionally indulged.

Under Seamus McEnaney, Monaghan have become tough and obdurate but it’s easy to forget how far they have travelled. When McEnaney first took over in late 2004, he inherited a team that had been dumped out of the Ulster championship by 15 points and then dumped out in the qualifiers by Longford. McEnaney has managed to incrementally turn Monaghan into a top ten force.

They became the team nobody really wants to play yet it’s easy to imagine Monaghan dismissing their critics because they learned their lessons the hard way. That’s the law of the jungle and Monaghan have become a modern team for the modern game. They became as hard headed and cynical as the opposition seeking to do them down. Trying to survive in the guerrilla warfare of the Ulster championship, they weren’t concerned by what people might think. Survival in the Ulster championship only honed and informed that impulse.

When McEnaney reinvigorated his backroom team this year by recruiting the highly-rated coach Paul Grimley, that move was expected to bring an even harder edge. However, Grimley has had a similar effect to that which he had with Kildare and Monaghan developed into a more attack minded team during the league. They were the third highest scorers of the 16 teams in the top two divisions. They have carried that into the championship, hitting a combined 1-39 in their last two games. In fact, the 0-21 they hit against Fermanagh was only the second time in the last decade that a team managed to hit more than 20 scores in the Ulster championship.

The serial disappointment hasn’t knocked them off their stride of winning an Ulster title and now Tyrone stand in their way of bridging a 22 year gap on Sunday. Throughout this championship they have played some brilliant football and maybe they can turn the tables and become football’s loved romantics.

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Christy O'Connor has worked in the national newspaper industry for over ten years and now writes primarily for the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. A former member of the Clare senior hurling panel, he is the author of the critically acclaimed hurling book 'Last Man Standing'. He has also written 'The GAA Quiz Book 1' and the 'The GAA Quiz Book 2'.

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