MONAGHAN midfielder Neil McAdam is something of a lucky charm.
Winning Ulster titles in 2013 and now in 2015, he took a year out to travel in 2014.
Minutes after the final whistle, McAdam made reference to the hurt in the squad following last year's final defeat.
"It’s a very special moment, you can see there from the players, the supporters and the management what it means to us," he said.
"I wasn’t around in 2014 but I know from talking to the boys that it hurt and I think that feeling was bottled up and we just unleashed it today."
Before dashing off to the changing rooms to celebrate with his teammates, McAdam stressed the importance of getting off to a good start against Donegal.
“Thankfully we just got over the line.
"It was a difficult game and it could have went either way but thankfully we came out on the right side.
"We knew Donegal would be looking to start fast and we wanted to do the same and thankful that we did."
When he returned to the field with the rest of the Farney players, he explained the feeling inside that winning dressing room.
"Just seeing the emotion on the boys faces in there lifting that Cup. There was real hurt there from last year like I said and that was all let go today."
The midfielder admitted that Donegal will be regretting the chances they missed and concedes the result may have been very different had the Tir Chonaill forwards been more accurate in front of the sticks.
"We are delighted with the result, obviously.
"Donegal could have snatched the victory today.
"They kicked some wides in the second half.
"On another day they could have went over and they might have won it by three four points. So we were lucky in one way because the game is all about small margins."
McAdam, however, feels this second provincial title in three seasons might prove some people wrong.
“It was an objective of ours after winning it in 2013, to win a second title," he said.
"I think a lot of people didn’t give us the credit we deserved back then.
"It’s nice to get that second title to cement things a little bit for us.
“We are going to celebrate and enjoy it tonight because you can see what it means to the people of Monaghan but after tonight we will draw a line in the sand and park the bus.
"The team has matured in the last few years from 2013. Learning from our mistakes over the past two years, we are not going to take any team lightly in the quarter finals.
"After enjoying tonight, it is about getting down to work and getting focused again."
Monaghan crashed out at the quarter final stage against Tyrone two seasons ago after winning the Ulster final and they could have the chance to to right that in if they meet Tyrone at this same stage this year.
"We had two objectives at the start of the year.
"To try and win an Ulster title and stay I Division One. And then, after winning Ulster we wanted to see how far we can go on from there. We have achieved those targets and hopefully in the next game the success continues."
