MONAGHAN ARE MAKING THE MOST OF THEIR MODEST RESOURCES TO CHALLENGE THE BIG BOYS
Making the most of their modest resources, the Farney County are ready to challenge on big stage
AS Dublin brushed Monaghan aside in Croke Park last August, one image captured seemed to symbolise what felt like an unbridgeable gap. It showed Conor McManus, the Farney’s resident attacking genius, trying desperately and valiantly to catch Michael Fitzsimons as the tenacious corner-back burst from defence.
The message was simple. No matter what the small guy might do to stop the big blue juggernaut in its tracks, it is a pointless exercise. Nothing will work. They won’t be caught. That’s exactly how the Monaghan supporters felt as they traipsed down Jones Road. They had to absorb another disappointing defeat in the All-Ireland quarter-final. The first weekend of August at headquarters had fast become the county’s glass ceiling.
This defeat felt a bit different, though. It was a reality check – and a pretty grim one. For five seasons, Malachy O’Rourke had maximised the most from slender resources. It couldn’t go on much longer. Perhaps, his admirable team had nothing left to give.
Guess what? This remarkable bunch of Monaghan footballers have proved us all wrong once more. They stand on the brink of another Ulster final – which will be their fourth in six years. Even if the province isn’t as strong as it has been in the past, O’Rourke’s side are widely considered to be the most powerful force coming out of the North.
They stayed up in Division 1 for a fourth successive season and did so with some comfort. They rounded off an excellent spring campaign by securing the county’s first competitive win over Dublin at headquarters. Somehow, O’Rourke found a way to freshen up his team over the winter.
A theme that has emerged from this Football Championship is that size doesn’t matter as much as it should. Last weekend, Carlow and Longford – two of the least populous counties in the country – beat Kildare and Meath respectively. But when it comes to punching above their weight, it is Monaghan that have set the standard.
The 2016 Census revealed that the population of the county is just over 60,000 – only Leitrim, Carlow and Longford are lower in the Republic of Ireland. The playing pool is always going to be limited while 25 members of O’Rourke’s squad are based in Dublin – although that doesn’t present the logistical difficulties it does for Mayo or Donegal as Monaghan is linked to the capital by an excellent road network.
The small size of their county is brought up so often that Monaghan players and supporters can be forgiven for finding it patronising. It is an easy label, as is the idea that their success is based around a robust defence. When they beat Kerry in Inniskeen in the Allianz League, Monaghan had eight different scorers. Against Tyrone in the Ulster quarter-final, six of the back seven also scored. While O’Rourke will never have the riches of Dublin or Kerry at his disposal, the squad is deeper this summer. In the League campaign, he used more than 30 players. He now has options.
Former GAA director general Páraic Duffy, a Monaghan native, suggested earlier this year that O’Rourke was ‘the most under-rated manager in the GAA.’ But the unassuming Derrylin native’s efforts are played down by so many and so often, that he has become one of the game’s imost highly rated bosses.
O’Rourke’s sensible and pragmatic management style simply reflects how the county itself goes about its business. When Monaghan were shocked by Longford in the 2016 All-Ireland qualifiers, other county boards might have got ideas above their station and decided they needed a new figure to take them that extra mile.
Not Monaghan. They stuck with O’Rourke. Their reward may come later this season if the team finally reach an All-Ireland semi-final. O’Rourke knows the players, but he also had a good record of getting teams with small resources to form bigger ambitions.
He won an Ulster club title with The Loup, one of the smallest clubs in Derry, and took his native Fermanagh to within a kick of the ball of their first Ulster title in 2008.
Those running Monaghan GAA know that O’Rourke is as good as it gets when it comes to the manager that the county can attract. And he runs a happy camp. Despite the past five years dining at football’s top table, there hasn’t been a whiff of player disenchantment or a negative story leaked to the media.
O’Rourke keeps his backroom team small. He drafted in Ryan Porter when he took the Monaghan helm in the winter of 2012, while his coach Leo McBride has been O’Rourke’s right-hand man since he was developing his reputation on the Ulster club scene. But it is not a closed shop. When former captain Eoin Lennon announced his inter-county retirement last year. O’Rourke wasted no time in recruiting him as a selector.
There’s a sense that this is a management team that does things properly – and that simply reflects the county board itself. It was widely-publicised over the winter that Monaghan changed its points system for league football where five points are up for grabs between clubs who have their county players playing while ‘starred’ games (where no county players play) carry just two points for a win. It is an interesting move, which they hope will encourage county players to play league games for their clubs – a major issue across the country.
The sad demise of Monaghan United, which took place during Euro 2012, has meant that all the energy and sporting passion within the county is solely directed towards the Gaelic football team, even allowing for Tommy Bowe’s superstar status.
A decade ago, the county also opened the doors on a state-of-theart centre of excellence – something that bigger counties such as Cork have yet to do. It is situated between Carrickmacross and Castleblaney, two footballing strongholds in the heart of the county. And the impressive building is a symbol of a county that is holding its head high and sticking its chest out.
There is also a refreshing lack of ego among those that surround the entire project. During the League, their main jersey sponsor Investec, a multinational company whose Irish arm is led by a local man Michael Cullen, allowed smaller local businesses that have also supported the team to appear on the jersey. Monaghan Mushrooms, Combilift and Celtic Pure all had an afternoon as a jersey sponsor.
It was a small gesture, but it’s small gestures that help Monaghan to think big. As heads are scratched as to why bigger counties are failing to make the most of their vast resources, all eyes turn to the Farney County. Across the country, they are viewed as the template as to how counties can make the most of what they have.
Their season will not be judged on what happens in Omagh today or even in the provincial decider. Monaghan are now at a stage where they have to show they can win away from the claustrophobic confines of Ulster.
It is when they return to Croke Park that we will finally discover if Monaghan have taken the next step – or if that gulf between them and the big blue juggernaut remains almost impossible to bridge.