It was a good yea r but we DREW a blank again

MONAGHAN STALWART WYLIE RETURNS TO TRY AND TAKE FINAL STEP IN 2019

THE blow of losing two semifinals by a point in 2018 has brought Drew Wylie back for a new season hungrier than ever.

Agonizing defeats by Fermanagh in Ulster and Tyrone in the All-ireland SFC series have given him a renewed determination to try and land silverware in 2019.

Monaghan manager Malachy O’rourke has often hailed his football squad as one of the hardest working and committed in the country, and the Ballybay full-back admits the players are self-motivated and don’t need the boss to crack the whip.

“Everyone seems to think it was such a good year for Monaghan and in a sense it was, because we got to a place none of us had been to before in an All-ireland semifinal,” says Wylie. “But in reality we had no silverware, nothing to go to a dinner dance with and no medals to pick up.

“Yes we were playing at a competitive level and we do feel we belong at the top and have earned our place there, but we fell short the last couple of years. Down have beaten us in Ulster, Fermanagh have beaten us.

“There’s lads who have played a lot of football but you look at them and they’re hungry for more again.

“Even myself, I have that self motivation and a lot of players in the squad have that and they don’t need Malachy coming in to start rounding them up. That’s the beauty about this squad. It’s strong and we want more.”

The breakthrough 2013 Ulster title, the county’s first in 25 years, was backed up with another Anglo Celt in 2015.

They’ve also had some very solid League campaigns in Division One and took a step forward again in 2018 with a first

All-ireland semi-final appearance in 30 years.

“The Tyrone game, we were a point away from drawing an Allireland semi-final and we felt we didn’t play as well as we could.

“There’s no guarantee we’ll be in that position again, but we have to put ourselves in the frame of mind that we are going to be.”

When they exited the Ulster SFC last year, the players met to re-evaluate their season and went on to reach the inaugural Super 8s.

“It’s important to meet together and say

‘what do we want out of this?’” Wylie added. “We took a week off and met without the management and said ‘lads, we are better than this’.

“We said

‘we’ll not be happy until we’re in the Super

8s and out of them too’.

“We’ve been playing Division One football for the last four or five years so we have a good panel there. You always want an Ulster Championship and outside of that you want to push on in the All-ireland series.”