While both managers who will be patrolling the sideline in Clones tomorrow hail from Fermanagh, Monaghan boss Malachy O’Rourke is only concerned with bringing the Ulster title back to the Farney county. Andy Watters reports...
FERMANAGH have never won an Ulster Championship but an Erne county native will be celebrating Anglo-Celt glory on Sunday night whatever the result.
Both managers in the Clones showpiece hail from the Maguire county: Malachy O’Rourke will lead out Monaghan, while his former Fermanagh team-mate Rory Gallagher takes charge of Donegal.
O’Rourke took the Ernemen to the brink of breaking their provincial duck in 2008 when his side – without Gallagher – drew with Armagh in the final. But he did get over the line two years ago when Monaghan beat Donegal.
“It’s a strange one alright,” he said.
“It makes no difference – Rory is just concentrating on Donegal and I’m concentrating on Monaghan.
“I probably did (play with him) during Pat King’s time, I’m not too sure to be honest.
“I always found him to be a smart fella and he was obviously a very good footballer. I always thought he would be very interested in coaching and would go on and be a good coach.
“It’s no surprise to me that he has gone on and been successful but after the success Jim McGuinness had with Donegal it was a big ask for him to go in there.
“It has been a very seamless transition and he has got them back to an Ulster final.
“He has done very well but hopefully he can take a break (from winning) for the next wee while.”
Donegal are used to winning, though, and they avenged their 2013 defeat by beating Monaghan in last year’s Ulster final.
The Farneymen have beaten Cavan and Fermanagh to set up a third meeting in-a-row and O’Rourke says their return to Clones in July is thanks to the dedication of his players.
“To win one Ulster Championship match is hard to do, to get to a third final in-a-row is a brilliant achievement,” he said.
“It’s great credit to them for keeping going – they’ve won games when they’ve been favourites and when they’ve been underdogs.
“The type of fellas they are, they’re not going to be looking back and congratulating themselves on getting to another Ulster final, they want to win the game.”
Both teams have had to develop since they crossed sword two years ago. Monaghan went into last year’s final as champions – now they are challengers once again.
“You try to learn as you go on,” said O’Rourke.
“Last year in the final we didn’t play as well as we would have liked and Donegal were deserving winners. We have to try and learn from that and see if we can do things better all over the field.
“We have to learn from the Championship matches this year as well. Some of our play was good, I was pleased with some aspects of it, but a lot of things wouldn’t be at the level we’d need to beat Donegal in an Ulster final.
“We have a lot of learning to do and we have to put it into practice on the training pitch and then, more importantly, in the final.”
While Donegal boss Gallagher has made 12 substitutions in three games (several in the closing stages), O’Rourke has made 10 in two and his replacements have contributed seven valuable points.
“What we’ve been trying to do the last few years is grow the panel all the time and during the League ensure that a number of young players were getting meaningful game-time and were comfortable playing with the team,” he explained.
“Then, when it came to Championship matches, we weren’t afraid to throw them in.
“Everybody wants to start the game but it’s getting that understanding in the panel that it’s not always possible and having players who aren’t start coming in with the right mentality, not carrying a load of disappointment but chomping at the bit and trying to make a difference.
“That’s what the subs are there for and I’m very pleased they have made an impact when they have come in.
“I like to think that the boys know that whatever decisions are made they are very honest decisions, we’re doing it for the good of the team. Individuals don’t come into it, on any given day it comes down to what we feel is the best to try and win the game.”
Every player in every squad wants to start every game and O’Rourke has to handle expectations while getting the team he wants onto the pitch.
“There wouldn’t be that many egos on the panel,” he said.
“Everybody understands at this stage that it is a panel effort and that everybody is there to do a job and try to win games.
“When you are coming to games you do talk to fellas and try to explain as best you can why they aren’t starting on a particular day. The boys will accept that when they know it’s for the right reasons.
“Subs coming in can have a massive impact and I’m confident in them coming on and confident that they’re equally as good as the boys that start.
“You’re not looking around the bench afraid to put anybody on, you’re fully confident in them and you know that if somebody isn’t having a great day or you want to change things up or put fresh impetus into the game there’s fellas there to do that.”
Monaghan and Donegal met three times last season (twice in the League and once in the Championship) and again in early March this year in a drab affair that finished 0-9 to 1-4 to the Farneymen and was panned by the critics.
“Every day you want to go out and put on a spectacle for the supporters,” he said.
“But there are days when you come up against teams knowing that if you play in a certain way you can leave yourself exposed and that’s the way it turned out.
“It was winter conditions and we were looking two points and we weren’t worried about how the game looked.
“When I go to a match and I’m watching it as a neutral I want to see a good game but when you’re in charge of a team, or a supporter, if they win the game two-one I don’t think there’d be anyone complaining about the spectacle.
“It’s about winning the game any way you can and if it’s done in an attractive fashion so much the better.”
O’Rourke feels the darkest days of blanket defences are over. The game has moved on, he says, and teams are becoming more adept at unpicking defensive stitching.
“The more that football is played that way, teams will be able to break it down,” he said.
“I think teams were coming up against it for the first time a couple of years ago and they were losing possession very easily.
“As time goes on teams will be better prepared for it, they’ll use the ball better and find ways around it and you’ll find that the game will open up more.
“Like everything else it will change through time and there’ll still be a lot of quality scores. The best players usually come to the fore anyway – the really top players will score when they are marked really tight with two or three men around them.”
