Monaghan made the long journey to north Donegal on Saturday morning to take part in the Buncrana Cup Finals weekend. After coming through the Qualifiers in July Monaghan were drawn against Donegal in the semi final with the winners going onto play the either Armagh or Derry in the final.
In the semi final, Monaghan came up against a very strong defensive unit in Donegal, while on top of that, in the first half they also had to play against a strong breeze but that didn’t stop Monaghan putting in a very good display, showing good patience in attack to work some excellent team scores. Donegal hit them with a sucker punch of a goal just before half time but Monaghan showed good character and their heads never dropped. At the start of the second half Monaghan scored a goal and took control of the game after this. Donegal came with a late surge in the last 10 minutes but Monaghan held their discipline and composure and ended up winning by the narrowest of margins in a 1-10 to 1-09 win.
In the other semi final Derry defeated Armagh on a scoreline of 3.14 to 2.7 in a game which Armagh led for long stages but Derry assisted by a couple of goals finished strongly to claim victory. This set up a final against Derry, who defeated Monaghan in an earlier stage of the competition back in May, so Monaghan knew they would have to produce a very good performance to come away with victory.
In the final Derry and Monaghan served up what supporters felt was the best game of under-age football witnessed in a long time. Played in the right spirit with a lot of determination and heart this game flowed from end to end with the skills of the game of the highest order. Tackling, Blocking, Catching, kicking, Scoring were to be seen in abundance and the supporters were being treated to a spectacle.
At the end of normal time it was a draw on a score-line of 6.08 to 6.08 with the Derry goalkeeper pulling of a spectacular save from a penalty in the dying moments.
Extra time preceded and again both teams could not be separated and it finished 6.11 to 6.11
It was great to see the supporters from both Counties coming onto the field to congratulate both teams on their performances.
A time and date for the replay is still to be confirmed but keep checking the Monaghan GAA website and twitter pages for details on the replay. They will be on both once it is known.
Credit for this performance from the Monaghan team on Saturday must go to the excellent work being done with all our clubs, schools, the Monaghan Youth Committee and Monaghan Coaching & Games. They have all come together and are pulling in the same direction and all for the benefit of the player and Monaghan Football going forward. This is the third year in a row Monaghan have contested the Ulster Final at this level so it shows this is a blue print for success within the county and something that must be maintained going forward if we want to continue to produce high quality players not only for our county teams but also for our club teams and school teams. Long may it continue.
Pictured below is the Monaghan panel from Saturday with their names and clubs listed below.
Back Row: Adrian Alford (Clones), Aaron McGee (Aughnamullen), Ryan O’Neill (Emyvale), Ryan O’Toole (Scotstown), Oisin McKenna (Sean McDermotts), Andrew Woods (Inniskeen), Liam Og Murray (Magheracloone), Tiarnan McCourt (Carrickmacross), Kian O’Connor (Castleblayney), Cormac McKenna (Truagh), Sean Treanor (Tyholland), Padraig Hughes (Latton), Tiernan Duffy (Aughnamullen), Kieran Duffy (Aughnamullen), Christopher Hanratty (Inniskeen), Padraig O’Brien (Rockcorry), Oisin Hamill (Aughnamullen) Paul O’Connor (Monaghan C&G), Rory Beggan (Monaghan C&G) Front Row: Eoghan Treanor (Emyvale), Tiarnan McSkean (Ballybay), Kieran Marron (Aughnamullen), Conor McCrystal (Monaghan Harps), Tadgh Kirk O’Callaghan (Carrickmacross), Craig Callan (Castleblayney), Alan Corley (Killeevan), James McCaughey (Donaghmoyne), Charlie Counihan (Ballybay), Conor McKeown (Magheracloone), Darren Geoghegan (Aughnamullen), Oisin O’Neill (Doohamlet), Shane Forde (Aughnamullen) & Francis McGeough (Castleblayney)
