All-Ireland title for camogs
December 30, 2010It was a victory which proved to be the perfect panacea for a county still reeling from the defeat of Seamus McEnaney's men by Kildare in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers at Croke Park.
Both sides brought with them, to the final at Donaghmore/Ashbourne GAA's (Meath) ground, a bit of baggage carried over from earlier in the season.
In the teams' first encounter in the 2010 Ulster championship, controversy erupted at the final whistle when Cavan were deemed to have won by a point by the referee in charge.
Monaghan, however, were adamant that they had triumphed but the result stood and Cavan progressed to the provincial final.
After Donegal withdrew from the competition, Monaghan went straight through to the Ulster final but this time Cavan claimed victory by a handful of points.
Monaghan's think-tank of Geraldine Clarke (team-manager) and Paul Ward (coach) worked overtime on keeping the players match fit and in competitive mode after the provincial final.
A series of challenge games with some top clubs had been played with good run-outs against the likes of Armagh clubs, Keady and Ballymacnab and Tyrone's Moy.
Of course, the no little matter of traversing the All-Ireland quarter and semi-finals had been negotiated with the minimum of fuss.
Mayo were quite easily mastered in the last eight of the competition with the convincing 2-21 to 0-4 final scoreline fairly reflecting the gulf in class between Monaghan and the westerners.
The penultimate round tie against Meath was a different, altogether, stiffer examination of Monaghan's All-Ireland credentials.
At the end of a cracking, closely-contested clash, Monaghan came out on top on the back of a 1-9 to 1-5 scoreline.
"Meath had earlier beaten a fancied Kildare team so we were expecting a tough game and we got one," says Antrim native Ward.
However a seachange in the attitude among the panel in the aftermath of the provincial campaign helped propel Monaghan on their road to the national title, the former O'Donovan Rossa (Antrim) and Antrim senior hurler opined.
"We had a team meeting after the Ulster final and re-evaluated our priorities for the rest of the season and took a long, hard look at where we were going.
"Attendances at training improved and all the girls really knuckled down and the spirit among them was good.
"The training became more intense and you could see the girls begin to believe in themselves more and we had some good contests with the likes of Meath, Dublin and Armagh in challenge matches."
Played in perfect conditions, the final saw Cavan get off to a flying start, denying Monaghan any scores until the 25th minute when Siobhan McKenna tapped one over from play.
Earlier Cavan's Roisin O'Keefe was denied by the Monaghan goalie Roisin McKenna in the 5th minute when she attempted to find the net.
Marie Brady did the honours for Cavan in the 7th minute when she put one over from play for the first score of the match closely followed by another from a free in the 10th minute.
Cavan went two points to nil in front after 10 minutes and it wasn't long until they went six points up when Majella Prior, Roisin O' Keefe and Marie Brady (two) again got their names on the scoreboard.
Monaghan were unlucky on several occasions with scoring chances going abegging before Siobhan McKenna and Shauna Finnegan both registered points from open play.
Then the unstoppable Isobel Kiernan once again found Siobhan McKenna who fired over the bar to leave Monaghan trailing by just 0-3 to 0-6 at the break.
Lack of scoring power continued to hamper Monaghan's efforts in the second half even though they were controlling the play in most areas.
Shauna Finnegan was stopped in her tracks and Marie Greenan converted the free in the 7th minute and once again Siobhan McKenna spotted the unmarked substitute Orla McMeel who brought her side to within one point of Cavan in the 14th minute.
The Oriel's finest looked to be home and hosed in the dregs of injury time only for Cavan's Mairead McCabe to find the net and level matters at 1-7 apiece at the death.
"After we went three points in front, I thought we were going to go ahead and beat the defending champions but we left a few frees behind us, including a '45," Paul reflected.
"That's sport for you," Paul acknowleged. "We could have won the game but we also could have lost it and, overall, I think it was a fair result in the end."
The replay at the same venue was no less a claustrophobic affair with Monaghan winning out by 0-12 to 1-8 after leading by 0-7 to 1-3 at the interval.
A 5th minute goal by Roisin O'Keeffe helped hoist Cavan into a two point lead but Monaghan came storming back and helped by a brace of points from team-captain Eileen McElroy edged ahead by half-time.
"They (Cavan) had a slight breeze behind them and were playing downhill so to speak so to make it to the half-time break ahead by a point was great," Paul reflected.
"We expected them to come at us hard at the start of the second half but the girls knuckled down brillantly and pushed forward at every opportunity.
"Our plan was to keep driving at them as much as possible to try and soften them up and then introduce fresh legs (sub. Lizzie McConnon) to get us over the line."
Deserving winners?
"Definitely. We were absolutely the better team, over the course of both games. Any team that wins after a replay it has proven itself to be the best team.
"The draw against Cavan was yet another benchmark in the development of this squad. Remember they were massive favourites to retain their title.
"I think the fact that we stuck to our game plan and that allied to our fitness and our mental strength pulled us through."
And, dare we ask, the value of winning an All-Ireland?
"It means everything to the game of camogie in Monaghan," the All-Ireland JHC medallist with Monaghan declared.
"The development work being done with the younger girls gets a massive boost because of the raised profile and having an All-Ireland title to boast about can act as a big recruiting agent.
"In 2009 we were just keeping things ticking over but in 2010 we brought things to a new level but it's important now that we don't rest on our laurels.
"We want to go on now and defend our title and that's a sufficient challenge 'cause All-Irelands are not easily won."
As a new year races towards us, one wonders what is Monaghan's target now?
"To keep up the momentum that was built up over the course of the past year," Paul says unequivocally.
"Camogie hasn't the same profile in Monaghan that ladies football has to you have to admire the camogie girls for sticking with camogie.
"They're playing the game because they love it, not because there's a huge camogie pedigree in Monaghan or major publicity about the game here.
"To build on what was achieved in 2010, the girls will have to re-commit themselves and put in even more effort.
"We've already had a team meeting at the end of November and have made it clear that we're looking towards competing in the Junior A or Junior Premiership in 2012.
"We want to win the Junior B (All-Ireland) again first though and that won't be easy 'cause in 2011 we'll be coming up against the likes of Laois B, Meath B and Kildare B sides.
"The squad will be getting together in the first week of February and with the help of the county board and the clubs we'll try and keep driving forward."
For the record, the Monaghan players who did the business against Cavan in the replayed All-Ireland Junior 'B' Championship camogie final to secure the Maire Ni Chinneide Cup were as follows:
Roisin McKenna; Mary Meehan, Sharon McQuillan, Orla McMeel; Edel Kieran, Angela Kerr, Isobel Kieran; Siobhan McKenna, Eleanor McQuaid (0-2); Karen Boyle, Helen Hughes, Shauna Finnegan (0-2); Rosita Finnegan, Mary McElroy, Eileen McElroy (0-7, three frees, one '45).
Sub; Liz McConnon (0-1) for R Finnegan. Tweet
