Clontibret reign supreme
December 30, 2010
Clontibret's 2010 Monaghan SFC success was a bit special. When they beat Magheracloone after a replay in the county final at Inniskeen on Sunday October 17th, not only did Clontibret complete a back-to-back of senior championship wins … they also completed a magnificent 2010 minor / senior double, having earlier in the year thumped Latton in the MFC decider. Thus, the past, present and future of this great club are all looking extremely healthy right now.
Clontibret booked their place in the 2010 Monaghan MFC final with a gritty 1-10 to 1-8 semi-final win over Scotstown at Emyvale. The game was played in a downpour on a Tuesday night and the winners trailed by three points at the break. After the north county men pulled further clear, the O'Neills stamped their authority on the match with a Fergal O'Dowd goal followed by four unanswered points. It was a tense finish, but Clontibret held on to book their place in the final and subsequently secured the Fergal O'Hanlon Cup with a comprehensive 0-19 to 0-6 victory over Latton in Ballybay.
Cathal and Mickey's charges were on fire from the off to stylishly exorcise the series of luckless disappointments this crop had endured from U12 level up. Eoin McGuigan delivered a mighty Man of the Match performance on the 40; Conor Boyle struck three stunning first-half points against the wind; Ryan McGuigan registered three times after coming off the bench despite a serious arm injury; and captain David Savage led by example up front. All in all, it was a terrific victory for the club and one that set the bar for the senior team. The seniors in turn, defending the Mick Duffy Cup, did not disappoint…
Clontibret opened their defence of the SFC with a win over Carrickmacross at Inniskeen on Friday August 20th. Just over eight weeks later, they would finish the job in style at the same venue.
After beating Carrick', the lads lost their original 'quarter-final' to Magheracloone on a score of 2-5 to 0-10 in Aughnamullen on September 12th. The winners struck their goals midway through the second half and two minutes from the end of normal time to edge the result by the narrowest of margins. Fortunately for the Saffrons, there was still the luxury of a second chance via the backdoor and they got their challenge back on track by virtue of a 1-12 to 1-8 win over Truagh at Emyvale five days later, on Friday September 17th Clontibret led from start to finish but history threatened to repeat itself when Truagh struck a three-pointer to close the gap to two at the three-quarters stage. However, this time Declan Brennan's men kept their cool to book a semi-final date with Castleblayney in Inniskeen the following Friday.
A terrific performance ensued and Clontibret booked passage to yet another county decider when cruising past the Faughs, 0-18 to 0-11. With the midfield axis of Anthony Rooney and Paul McGuigan in superb form, Clontibret dominated from the off and were full value for the win. Up front, Vincent Corey, Fergal Mone, Conor McManus and Rodney Gorman were too hot to handle. Dessie and John Paul Mone were omnipresent, while Martin Corey ruled the roost in defence.
The original county final in Inniskeen finished level on Sunday October 10th, but the defending champions finished the job at the second time of asking, 1-11 to 0-12, taking the spoils in the most dramatic of circumstances when goalkeeper Paul McElroy saved a last-gasp Tommy Freeman penalty. Clontibret were senior champions for the 15th time, clear in second place on the county's all-time Roll of Honour.
The two county finals were absolute thrillers - an epic two-hour contest between two wonderful teams - and Clontibret's incredible win will go down in folklore as one of the most exciting ever witnessed in Monaghan.
Pairc Grattan proved a fitting venue for the county final as the traditional Clones setting was eschewed. It was the first time a county final had been hosted in the south of the county since 'Blayney and Inniskeen met at Carrick' 20 years earlier. Interestingly, Inniskeen is also famously the venue of the very first Monaghan SFC decider so perhaps it should be looked upon not as a departure from tradition but a return to it!
Despite their narrow defeat to the Mitchells at the quarter-final stage, the holders still went into the 2010 final as the slightest of favourites. By winning the 2010 title, Clontibret completed the two-in-a-row for the second time this decade (also achieving the feat in 2006/07), making it four SFCs out of five. Clontibret won their first SFC in 1949 and confirmed their dominance by going on to win four in a row. The other time they put titles back to back was in 1955 and '56.
Clontibret had beaten Magheracloone after a replay in the 2002 county final, and had also come out on top against the same opposition in the 2006 decider, so history was on their side as they squeezed past the Freemans and co. once more. Unfortunately for the newly-crowned Monaghan champions, they lost to Donegal champions Naomh Conaill in the first round of the Ulster club championship at Ballybofey on Halloween, 2-12 to 0-9, with county star Conor McManus accounting for all but two of their scores, but this defeat takes nothing away from what was otherwise a record-breaking year for the O'Neills.
Rarely, if ever, has a Monaghan county final been so close. The first day, the two teams couldn't be separated; the second day, with two points between them, Magheracloone were awarded a penalty which was to be the last kick. Clontibret custodian Paul McElroy became an instant hero when he dived to his right to pull off an unbelievable match-winning stop from the normally-unstoppable Tommy Freeman.
The Saffrons got off to a great start in the replayed final when Vincent Corey rifled the ball to the net after just five minutes. Despite having two further first-half 'goals' ruled out, the O'Neills led by double scores at the interval: 1-5 to 0-4. They mid-Monaghan men led by five points at the end of the third quarter but Magheracloone then outscored the champions-elect by five points to one during a dominant spell to close within the minimum. Conor McManus knocked over a 29th-minute free - his 53rd point of the competition - but the incredible late drama unfolded after James Ward was awarded a penalty. But Paul McElroy saved the day.
It was the unerring McManus who had secured the draw on October 10th with a late point in the drawn game seven days earlier, the county man striking in the 55th minute to make it 1-10 each. Fergal Mone's injury-time goal gave the holders a 1-7 to 0-7 half-time cushion but Tommy Freeman's goal had Magheracloone ahead at the start of the final quarter. McManus saw his penalty saved in a fiercely-contested and dramatic match.
Clontibret had got the defence of their title underway with a 0-19 to 1-11 win over Carrickmacross under the floodlights of Inniskeen. Clontibret, who had won three of the previous four county championships, had to be on their guard as they had lost to Carrick' in the 2008 semi-finals, but they made no mistake this time, thanks in the main to the accuracy of Conor McManus, who hit eleven points (five from play).
Clontibret started well with three unanswered points - two from McManus and one from Dessie Mone - but Carrick' hit back with a goal from Andy Callan. The sides remained evenly-matched for most of the first half, but Clontibret landed the last three points to lead by 0-11 to 1-6 at the interval. The victors opened up a five-point lead early in the second half and although Carrick' matched them score-for-score in the final quarter, they never looked like catching the reigning champions.
Clontibret, 2010 Monaghan senior football champions: Paul McElroy; Colin Duffy, Colm Greenan, Martin Corey; Darach Mooney, John Paul Mone, Conor Boyle; Paul McGuigan, Eoin Greenan; Anthony Rooney, Conor McManus (0-9), Dessie Mone; Fergal Mone, Vincent Corey (1-1), Rodney Gorman (0-1). Subs: Brendan Og Magennis for A Rooney (57), David Savage for C Boyle (60).
Most Read Stories