Ulster Minor Football Championship
WHEN Monaghan dismissed Antrim with ease in late December last year, manager Mark Counihan was desperate to keep the ball rolling.
The last thing he wanted was for his panel to lose momentum. With Covid cases rising, speculation about a new year lockdown rife and the next round of the Ulster MFC not due to take place until the first weekend in January, Counihan knew what his preferred option was. Play the rest of the championship before the end of the year, don’t leave the players hanging again. Unfortunately, the worst fears of the Farney minor boss were confirmed.
Six months on from that quarter-final victory at Corrigan Park and with Ireland emerging from its latest lockdown restrictions, Monaghan finally get to take to the field for their ‘2020’ Ulster MFC semi-final with Fermanagh.
Although momentum is well and truly gone, Monaghan’s minor manager is just looking forward to getting back onto the football field.
“Every time we come back from restart it’s hard to get a gauge from the players of where you’re at. This time is no different,” Counihan said.
“We’ve always wanted to complete the 2020 championship. My problem was I thought it could have been completed before the turn of the year. Although Munster are a bit behind schedule like ourselves, Connacht and Leinster had their contests finished up by Christmas.”
With Counihan having much the same panel available to work with as he did before Christmas, it’s easy to see who the danger men should be for Monaghan come Saturday. On that late December afternoon in west Belfast, Stephen Mooney put in an electrifying performance for the Farney, hitting 1-8 in total in a 2-17 to 0-8 victory. Tiarnan O’Rourke and Niall Rice will also be expected to star against Fermanagh, with O’Rourke in particular lethal from range.
The unknown element is how quickly they can get up to speed in a competitive game of football: “With the club activity, Fermanagh have a bit of a head start. They’ve got a couple of club games in,” Counihan added.
“The oldest players on our panel from last year haven’t been able to get any games in, but the boys have reacted well. They’re a stalwart bunch.
“It’s obviously not easy to get a read on the opposition with no form to go on, but that works both ways. In terms of Fermanagh’s last championship game [the Erne county beat Down 0-10 to 1-4 in their Ulster quarter-final at Brewster Park last December], they were outstanding on the day. They’re a tenacious group of players and I’m sure they’ll intend to pick up where they left off against ourselves.”
Another unkown to throw into the mix is the mental toll school assessment season may be taking on some players. A teacher in St Macartan’s College in Monaghan town, Counihan is keenly aware of the pressures on his panel, but is confident they can make the best of it.
“We’ve been lucky on the injury front, although a lot of the boys have been focused on their Leaving Certs over the last few weeks,” he said.
“We have some guys who have Leaving Cert exams right up until this Friday, so they’ll have their heads in other places up until Saturday and that’s the way it should be for them. It’s definitely a challenge for these guys but it is what it is and we’re still looking forward to it and are determined to enjoy it.
“We’re not looking for excuses, far from it. Nothing exists beyond Saturday. We intend to make the most of it, that’s all we can do.”
