McMANUS: NO REASON FOR BEGGAN TO APOLOGISE
CONOR McMANUS has insisted that fellow AllStar Rory Beggan didn’t need to apologise for going for glory during their narrow All-Ireland semi-final defeat. The Monaghan duo, along with wing-back Karl O’Connell, will pick up their All-Stars this evening after a breakthrough season with the Farney County. But goalkeeper Beggan admitted last week that his season ended on a low when his attempted equaliser against Tyrone dropped short. The 26-year-old said he had a ‘rush of blood’ and ‘immediately regretted’ trying to kick the leveller from long range after dashing upfield. He also admitted that he apologised to teammates afterwards though McManus insisted there was no need to do so. ‘There was no apology necessary,’ said McManus, now a threetime All-Star. ‘If we were all to take that approach we’d be apologising after every day we went out. Rory doesn’t owe us anything. His performances spoke for themselves all year. ‘We all kick wides or make mistakes in games. And look, if he’d floated that ball over the bar he would have been the toast of Monaghan. It was just one of those things.’ Beggan beat Dublin veteran Stephen Cluxton and Laois’ Graham Brody to the goalkeeper All-Star award. He shot 18 points in the Championship from placed balls and performed a sweeper ‘keeper role.
McManus agreed that Beggan is now up there among the top stoppers. ‘It’s not even up for discussion, it’s a given,’ he said. Cluxton can feel hard done by that just two of his five All-Stars have come this decade, a period in which Dublin have claimed six AllIrelands. ‘Cluxton has been the benchmark and Rory would have said that himself over the years,’ said McManus. ‘Rory has probably learned from him and taken the role and made it his own by really working hard on his game. Is one better than the other? I wouldn’t like to go out without Rory Beggan in our team, that’s all I’ll say.’ Monaghan will look to their three All-Stars to power them to the summit of Ulster in 2019 after last winning the provincial title in 2015. They’ve been drawn to play Cavan in the quarter-finals and will be favourites to progress. ‘They’re always tight games with Cavan,’ noted McManus. ‘Over the last three Championship games, if you add up the winning margin, it’s only five points overall.’ It still looks a kind draw generally for Monaghan with Donegal and Tyrone both on the opposite side — opening up a path to the Ulster final. ‘I don’t think you can say that at this stage — we’ve lost the last three semifinals in Ulster,’ said McManus. The prolific forward said he is proud of the standards the county is now keeping. ‘It’s great that Monaghan are talking and thinking like that now and we’re in that overall conversation where people are talking about All-Irelands,’ he said. Three-time All-Star Conor McManus appeared at the GAA Youth Forum in partnership with Sky Sports alongside Sky Sports pundit Ollie Canning and Cork star Conor Lehane.