Amidst Monaghan manager Seamus McEnaney’s tactical manoeuvrings during last year’s Championship, one constant in the form of midfielder Eoin Lennon remained. Kenny Archer talks to the Latton man about injuries and the hunger to build on their 2007 breakthrough..
ALIKE many Monaghan men, Eoin Lennon moves around a bit – even if he is on crutches at the moment. He studied in Dublin and now he’s working in Drogheda.
Yet unlike many of his county colleagues, those changes of location are restricted to off the pitch. Not for him the versatility of the likes of captain Damien Freeman, Vinny Corey, or Paul Finlay.
On the pitch, Eoin Lennon is found in one position, and one position only, at centre-field. Equally, when you look at the Monaghan midfield, there you’ll find Eoin Lennon.
Over the past six seasons, the Latton clubman has been almost a full-time fixture in the engine room for the Farneymen. Since his first Championship start as a raw
20-year-old back in 2002, the big man has been almost ever-present for the big games.
Indeed, only once in 16 Championship matches over that period has Eoin Lennon not lined out in the Monaghan midfield – and that was in a Qualifier against Wicklow in 2006, when injury and experimentation affected selection.
What’s more, only three times in Championship combat has Lennon been removed from the fray, with two of those substitutions coming during a summer when he was far from fully fit.
Three different Monaghan managers – Jack McCarville, Colm Coyle, and now Seamus McEnaney – clearly see Lennon as their main man in midfield.
He’s not a scorer, with only two Championship points to his name, although one did come at Croke Park against Tyrone. At 6’3” and “about 14-and-a-half stone”, he’s in the traditional massive mould of a midfielder, who wins the ball and gives it to others. It is, he confirms, “the only position I’ve ever played.”
The alterations have come around him. While Lennon has been a permanent presence (apart from that Wicklow game), his playing partners have changed. The roll call comprises Jason Hughes, Dermot Duffy, Fergal Duffy, Dick Clerkin, and Paul Finlay, with Brendan McKenna, JP Mone both thrown into the midfield mix too.
For Lennon’s first two-and-a-half seasons there was consistency at centre-field, paired with Hughes. However, after Armagh gained revenge for their shock defeat of 2003 by hammering Monaghan the next summer, the then captain, Dermot Duffy came into midfield – but it was the more experienced Hughes who was moved, Lennon stayed.
The chopping and changing continued in midfield, with Fergal Duffy then Dick Clerkin taking turns in there – but always alongside Lennon. Dropping the Latton man did not enter any manager’s thinking.
In fact, such was Eoin’s importance that he was probably pressed into Championship service too early in 2005, as he recalls: “I did my cruciate ligament in 2004, and it took a while to get back. I did get back playing in 2005 but it was sort of a rush job. It takes a while to fully get over an injury like that. It’s a long-term thing to recover serious fitness.”
Still struggling in that regard contributed to two of those three times that Lennon has not completed a Championship game which he started, replaced against London by Francie Doogan, then against Wexford by Fergal Duffy, albeit as the last sub.
Even as he battled back to his best, Lennon was good enough to help Monaghan to Croke Park in the Championship, where they gave eventual All-Ireland Champions Tyrone something of a scare before bowing out.
Playing at headquarters is pretty special, yet his football career got even better in the autumn of 2005. His club Latton O’Rahilly’s won the Monaghan SFC title, their first for fully 75 years, beating holders Magheracloone Mitchel’s, including the Freeman brothers Damien and Tommy.
Two years earlier, little Latton had suffered the disappointment of losing the county final to Monaghan kingpins, Castleblayney Faughs, who recorded a record-extending 37th SFC success.
For Lennon, winning in 2005 “was one of the best days ever in a man’s playing career, you never forget winning something with your own club.” Last season “we were knocking on the door again, beaten by a point by Clontibret in the semi-final.”
Beyond parochial celebrations, the successes for Latton and Magheracloone and the revival of Clontibret have undoubtedly boosted Monaghan football, giving the squad strength in depth beyond the usual suspects of ’Blayney and Scotstown.
Lennon also enjoyed success in the spring of 2006, winning the Sigerson Cup with Dublin City University. His college days are behind him now, teaching maths and geography – and coaching football, of course – at a secondary school in Drogheda, St Oliver’s.
Club concerns are also on the back-burner: “The county definitely gets priority now, for the next couple of months.”
That’s one worry for opponents, that Lennon can concentrate on his football, without the worries of too much travelling, or studying for exams.
Teaching, he acknowledges, is a good career for an inter-county footballer, “it gives you an extra hour or two in the evening. You can go home and get your dinner and be better prepared for training. At least you’re not finished at six o’clock and rushing home. It’s very good for that.”
And for a man who has been Monaghan’s first choice at midfield for more than half a decade, there’s also a feeling that his best days are ahead of him.
“For a few years I felt I wouldn’t have been strong enough to play midfield. You certainly need to be round 25, 26 to be able to establish yourself in that position. You come up against a lot of strong, well-established midfielders.”
Maybe Lennon is being too modest. Many would describe him as such – certainly few men out-do Derry’s Fergal Doherty, as Eoin did in last summer’s Ulster SFC semi-final at Casement Park.
Such form earned him a first Ulster Allstar from The Irish News, and such accolades “give confidence to boys”, although he adds: “We always knew there were as good players in Monaghan as there was round Ireland, it was just a matter of getting it out of them – that’s what ‘Banty’ and Marty [McElkennon] seem to have been doing.”
The process has taken time: “Colm Coyle instilled a bit of belief in some of the players. We started getting a bit of success, things started to look up, a bit brighter.
“In general with ‘Banty’, things have been on an upward curve. It’s his personal approach to it, he’s really looked after the players and I suppose the players responded to that. The Cloghan training centre is top class as well.”
Yet Monaghan lost the Ulster final to Tyrone and, after dumping Donegal, the All-Ireland quarter-final, admittedly unfortunately, against Kerry.
“The main thing we’re trying to get through to players is that last season is gone,” insists Lennon. “Although we did well, we don’t have any silverware to show for it. Hopefully we can go forward.”
Asked about the Kerry loss, he sighs, before saying: “It was very tough to be so close to an All-Ireland semi-final. Maybe if we had bit more experience of that sort of situation we could have closed out the match. Hopefully that will stand to us for this year.”
Lennon’s worth was recognised and rewarded at the weekend when he was named the Monaghan Senior Player of the Year for 2007.
Ironically, he arrived to receive his award on crutches, having been hurt at training subsequent to this interview.
Only injury or illness will keep him out of the Monaghan midfield when the Championship comes around.
THE CAPTAIN
Damien Freeman (Magheracloone) Currently on honeymoon, the confirmation that he’ll be captain for another year coincided with his wedding day earlier this month. Like Tyrone counterpart Brian Dooher, Damien Freeman is entering his fourth season as skipper, and the similarities do not end there. The Magheracloone man is an all-action leader, equally comfortable in defence or attack.
Damien usually operates at wing-back, but can also be deployed on the flanks as a forward, and even occasionally up in the corner of the attack.
One weakness is the scarcity of scores that he provides when he is pushed up, but he is an accurate and intelligent passer from deep.
Captained Monaghan to the 2005 National Football League Division Two title and should be back and available to lead them at that level when the revamped League commences next weekend.
2008 NFL SQUAD
Dick Clerkin, Vincent Corey, Shane Duffy, Owen Duffy, Paul Finlay, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Colm Flanagan, Damien Freeman (capt.), Tomas Freeman, Stephen Gollogly, Ciaran Hanratty, Darren Hughes, Eoin Lennon, Neil McAdam, Dermot McArdle, Padraig McBennett, Gary McEnaney, Paul McGuigan, Brendan McKenna, Conor McManus, Daniel McNally, Gary McQuaid, Seamus Markey, Dessie Mone, John Paul Mone, Donal Morgan, Shane Mulligan, Raymond Ronaghan, Shane Smith, Rory Woods (right)
THE VERDICT
One secret of Monaghan’s success last season was that opponents rarely knew what to expect. For starters, the team named often didn’t match that which lined out. More importantly, Seamus McEnaney was able to shuffle and switch players around within whatever 15 took the field due to the versatility of many of his men.
Among those able to adapt to different departments of the team were Vinny Corey (right) – who made the biggest move, from full back to full forward – plus captain Damien Freeman, JP Mone, Gary McQuaid, Paul Finlay, Dermot McArdle, and Rory Woods. In the McKenna Cup this year McEnaney tried Corey at midfield with Dessie Mone, normally a defender, in an inside forward role he’d played at U21 level.
Fitness is another factor in Monaghan’s favour. Last season they outran, outworked, and outlasted many opponents, thanks to the highly-valued training work carried out by the much-travelled Martin McElkennon.
The self-belief in the squad was apparent last year, but it remains to be seen whether that was boosted by running reigning (and eventual) All-Ireland Champions Kerry so close in the quarter-final – or whether that devastating defeat has knocked their confidence back.
Monaghan’s versatility could be called upon because strength-in-depth seems to be a weakness. Their second string struggled in the McKenna Cup, slumping to defeats against Queen’s and Cavan, and they fielded a much stronger side in the solitary win over Antrim.
However, their adaptability and footballing ability can be a drawback too. Monaghan’s defenders have a tendency to join the attack too much, which can prove costly at the back. Clean sheets against the better teams have been a rarity in recent years; that desire to go forward might hold them back again.
Monaghan produced a decent spread of scorers last season but do need others to come closer to the same level of consistent threat posed by Allstar Tommy Freeman.
Even with four home games in the League, promotion from a difficult Division Two looks beyond them – and in the Championship, even if they get past Fermanagh, Derry or Donegal might be fancied to wreak revenge for 2007.
ONES TO WATCH
County champions Clontibret could contribute a couple more players to the Monaghan starting side this season.
Conor McManus lined out once in the Championship last season, against Donegal, having come off the bench against Down, Derry, and Tyrone.
He produced only one point, against the Mournemen, but more will be expected of him this season, not least as a free-taker.
Has been named as U21 captain, so Seamus McEnaney clearly values him.
Paul McGuigan actually made two senior championship appearances two years ago, in the two games against Armagh, but his involvement with Jordanstown, especially in the McKenna Cup, has affected his county chances. Versatile and adaptable, could make an impact in attack this year. In defence, Seamus Markey of Donaghmoyne could offer something different. His imposing physical presence could be useful if Vinny Corey is used further up the field, and he also has pace.
NFL Division Two: Sunday February 3: Roscommon (h)
Saturday February 16: Cavan (a)
Sunday March 2: Armagh (h)
Saturday March 15: Dublin (a)
Sunday March 30: Meath (h)
Saturday April 5: Cork (a)
Sunday April 13: Westmeath (h)
Bank of Ireland Ulster SFC quarter-final: May 25: Fermanagh v Monaghan (Brewster Park, Enniskillen)
Lennon out on his Eoin as a Farney fixture
Currently on honeymoon, the confirmation that he’ll be captain for another year coincided with his wedding day earlier this month. Like Tyrone counterpart Brian Dooher, Damien Freeman is entering his fourth season as skipper, and the similarities do not end there. The Magheracloone man is an all-action leader, equally comfortable in defence or attack. 
Antrim
Armagh
Cavan
Derry
Donegal
Down
Fermanagh
Monaghan
Tyrone
