OWEN DUFFY must have had mixed feelings back in 2013 as he watched Monaghan celebrate winning the Ulster Championship for the first time in 25 years.
The joy on the players’ faces as they lifted that Anglo-Celt Cup was the image of that summer and though Duffy cheered them, the fact he missed it all through injury must have been a hard pill to swallow.
He’d been man of the match in the Division Three final against Meath in April and was looking forward to a Championship run when he turned awkwardly on his ankle. Game over.
The injury needed an operation and ruled him out of football for more than a year. Since then he felt his way back at first and then has pushed hard to force his way into a team already established as a force in Ulster and now looking to make a mark at national level.
“I just got back towards the end of last year and I’m getting the fitness up, I got a good pre-season done and I’m getting back into the mix,” said Latton clubman Duffy.
“Competition for places is at an all-time high and that’s partly why the success is happening because everyone’s challenging for places. There is still fellas coming back from injuries – the likes of Walshey (Colin Walsh) – and that’s only going to make it harder to get into the Championship team.
“No-one wants to sit watching football, that’s what you’re training for week-in, week-out to play in big games. I’ve tasted a wee bit of it but the hunger is there to play in the Ulster Championship and get further on.
“To get into the team you have to empty the tank. Dropping form or even a small injury can cost you a place in the 26, so you have to work as hard as you can to get in and stay in the 15.”
This year Duffy played his part as Monaghan wrestled with the big boys in Division One and more than held their own; beating both 2014 All-Ireland finalists as well as Ulster rivals Tyrone and Derry. On Sunday they travel down the road to Cavan town, it’s a short distance but it’ll be a long way back for the losers.
These days the derby perhaps doesn’t have the glamour of a Cork-Kerry, Galway-Mayo or Armagh-Down but there is a lot riding on the result.
“In neighbouring counties you’re always going to get that,” said Duffy.
“Cavan in the last few years are on an upward curve. They’ve had success at underage and going into the last round of the League they were in the hunt for Division One football.
“Going over there is not going to be easy and they’ll have their tails up as well so we’re taking nothing for granted. It’s going to be a battle – we all know that’s the way derbies go.
“We’ve been there twice before and we played open football so we’ll have to see what we face on the day and look to overcome it. In the first round of Ulster nothing’s going to be easy and Cavan adds a bit of spice to it because it’s a derby.”
This Monaghan squad has worked hard to push into the top eight but joining the elite brings it’s own pressure and now they are a prized scalp for other counties.
“After we made the (NFL) semi-finals everyone will want to get at us and Cavan are no different,” said Duffy.
“At the back of their heads they’re thinking ‘why can’t we get into an Ulster final?’ and we know they’re going to be a very, very tough task.”
Monaghan’s last competitive outing was against Dublin in that NFL semi-final at Croke Park. Though the Farneymen lost by a point, it was a decent end to a promising campaign that ended a yo-yo run of successive relegations followed by successive promotions.
“We had a good League overall,” Duffy agreed.
“The two Dublin performances… The first one wasn’t great, the second was an improvement but having got that close it was a bit disappointing not getting over the finishing line.
“Playing Kerry and Dublin twice in three weeks was great. That’s why you want to play football when you’re growing up.
“They’re the matches you want to be playing – down in Kerry, against Dublin in Croke Park. Every footballer wants to be playing them and hopefully it’ll stand to us going forward.
“But overall our main aim was to stay up and make the semi-final. After we made the semi-final we wanted to concentrate on the Championship on the 24th of May.
“It’s the big date in the diary. We didn’t want to exert all our energy in League football because the Championship is the main aim for every team.
“We put enough emphasis on it to stay up but with every performance we say we deserved to be in the division and we deserved to compete in the division. We didn’t go to the semi-finals not to win it, but we were happy overall.”
The winners on Sunday can start planning to take on either Antrim or Fermanagh at the semi-final stage. Monaghan will be favourites no matter who comes through that game so a third Ulster final in three years looks there for the taking. However, Duffy isn’t likely to take his eye off the ball.
“You can’t look past Cavan,” he said.
“Donegal are on the other side but after the League campaigns, there’s eight of the nine teams in Ulster in the top two divisions.
“There are no easy games in Ulster and the minute you take your eye off your next opposition that’ll be your undoing.
“It’s May 24 and it’s Cavan and for all we know that could be our last game of the Ulster Championship.”
