Dual in the crown
November 27, 2011It was a hell of a busy year for Ronan Meegan and Inniskeen. The Grattans went into 2011 as defending senior hurling champions, having won the Mick Quigley Cup for the first time in their history with a thrilling county final day victory over Castleblayney Faughs in 2010. They went on to complete a clean sweep of hurling titles in 2010, establishing themselves as the premier hurling force in the county. Twenty-eleven saw them put the SHC on the line for the first time…
In football, Inniskeen were back up senior so they had an obvious challenge: staying up. It was never going to be easy, however, as club football in Monaghan is currently as competitive as it's ever been.
Ronan also had intercounty duties to contend with, so there wasn't too much time to sit around and take stock of the situation! Indeed, he performed so well for the Monaghan hurlers that he earned himself a deserved place in attack on the 2011 Nicky Rackard Cup Team of the Year. Monaghan had reached the semi-final stage of the third-tier All-Ireland before losing to Louth.
Realistically, the 2011 Monaghan SHC was a two-horse race between Inniskeen and 'Blayney. Inniskeen included in their ranks the previous year's Monaghan Hurler of the Year Seamus Loftus, Young Hurler of the Year Martin Murphy and county senior captain Trevor Hilliard, as well as notable hurlers like Michael Lennon, Ronan and Paul Meegan, Pauric Dowdall and Gavin Dooley. They had lost county man Kevin Boylan but had every chance of retaining the spoils.
On Thursday, July 28th, they kickstarted their campaign in style with a routine 3-21 to 0-6 defeat of Carrickmacross at Aughnamullen. This was enough to secure passage to the decider but this time there was to be no repeat of the 2010 heroics as the Faughs prevailed by 2-16 to 1-7 at Clontibret on Sunday, September 11th.
It was a real anti-climax as the hurlers were hoping to compensate for the footballers' disappointing season. They were within two points of their opponents nine minutes into the second half but the dismissal of goalscorer Ronan Meegan gave 'Blayney a massive boost.
In football, Inniskeen endured a torrid league campaign, finishing bottom of the senior league with just one point from 17 games, picking up a 0-9 apiece draw in their home match against Castleblayney on Wednesday June 29th. Apart from that, it was a series of defeats which meant Inniskeen would make an immediate return to the second rung.
In the SFC, they produced one of the shocks of the year when eliminating Monaghan Harps - 1-9 to 0-11 at Clontibret on Sunday August 14th - but there is nowhere to hide in the SFC and that superb victory was bookended by defeats to the O'Neills and Magheracloone, two of the latter-day giants of Monaghan club football.
Here was the team that dumped the Harps out of the SFC: J Tavey; F McArdle, G McArdle, A Keenan; T Hilliard, S Loftus, D McArdle; F Duffy, G Dooley; M Lennon (captain, 0-1), M McKenna (1-0), D McGahon; A Meegan, P Meegan (0-5), R Meegan (0-3). Subs: N Lennon for A Meegan (49 mins); J McGeeney for Loftus (55).
Ronan Meegan admits that Inniskeen were hoping for a little better in 2011: "With football, we were aiming to consolidate our senior position, having come up from intermediate. But we only won one game all year and it was a very disappointing campaign. In hurling, our ambition was to retain the SHC but we fell short against 'Blayney in the final so we finished the year empty-handed."
Does the sheer number of dual players involved make it very difficult for Inniskeen? Playing senior football and hurling must take its toll, especially with some players involved with the county as well? "I think we had six dual players this year and it probably does affect us a bit. When you are losing every week in football, it's hard to get out of that rut. There's also the issue of tiredness and the amount of time you put into training, so it is difficult.
"You are on the road four or five nights a week, with a game or two every weekend. As the summertime comes in and the competitions start, you are under pressure to train with both teams. It's not easy and I found that being involved with the county team as well it was almost like a full-time job."
Ronan was one of six Inniskeen men on the county senior hurling panel in 2011. He had an exceptional season as Frank Brady's men made it to the last four of the championship with a sensational win against Fingal and was delighted to be named on the Nicky Rackard Cup Team of the Year. "It's nice to go up to Croke Park in December and collect an award like that."
Why does he think the footballers of Inniskeen struggled to hold their own in 2011? "Emigration and injuries hit us hard. We also had a bad start in the league, losing a few games by a point or two. Once you lose a few close games that kind of sets the tone for the year and we just couldn't seem to get out of that rut and get a win under our belts. The belief was gone.
"Seamus Callan and Pete Meegan were in charge and they put in a big effort but they had a lack of resources available to them and I suppose there was also a slight lack of commitment from the players. We lost two or three lads to injury and you can't afford that when you have a very limited squad to begin with. When you're senior, 15 men isn't enough; you need to have 25 men available all the time. Training went well; we had Barney McAleenan up from Castlewellan to help out, but we just never got going…"
As for the hurling, Ronan adds: "We won everything in 2010 - including the All-Ireland Sevens - and maybe that was a problem because it may have taken the edge off us. We went into the senior championship final fully confident but I felt the hunger and sharpness wasn't there this time whereas Clastleblayney had that bit more hunger after losing to us the previous year. We had only been to two finals before, in 2006 and 2010, and we'd be hoping to get back there and win it again in 2012.
"Ourselves and 'Blayney are probably a bit ahead of the rest of the clubs at the moment, so we'd hope to push on and win a few more championships. Our clash with 'Blayney will be the big game each year and we're confident we can take them if we get it right on the day."
And what about the football? Realistically, what can Inniskeen do in the 2012 intermediate grade? "It's not going to be easy going down to intermediate ranks with the likes of Doohamlet, Donaghmoyne and Rockcorry down there. It's going to be tough, but we hope to go up again. We've gone down four or five times in the past 12 or 13 years and we've never spent two successive years in intermediate, so we'd be hoping to bounce back."
The big concern is that perhaps there aren't that many quality players coming through the pipeline at Pairc Grattan (which, incidentally, was officially opened on a landmark day for the club over May Bank Holiday weekend): "A lot of the team would be in their mid-20s and would be playing first-team football for six or seven years now," Ronan notes. "Midfielder Fergal Duffy would be in his 30s and hopefully we'll hold onto him for at least one more year. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of young lads coming through. There are only four or five young lads; the numbers aren't great. The juvenile structures are strong again at U12 but there's definitely a gap there with no new blood coming through, so it's a bit of a worry…"
At 26, Ronan has been on the first team for nine years. During that time he's won a county IFC, an Ulster club IFC, an All-Ireland club IFC, a county SHC, an Ulster club JHC, two intermediate football leagues, two senior hurling leagues, an All-Ireland club hurling Sevens title and minor hurling league and championship medals. In 2011, he made the Rackard Cup Team of the Year and also represented Monaghan in McKenna Cup football.
He's a busy man and there'll hardly be any let-up in 2012!
County success and a place in the Ulster decider
Following the disappointment of losing out in the final last year, the ladies side regrouped and went one step further to lift the Junior county title this year writes Alan Gunn.
Coming though the group stages with three wins from three outings against Donaghmoyne 'B' (0-6 to 1-2), Sean MacDiarmada (6-19 to 1-3) and Aughnamullen (5-14 to 1-7) the side looked in good shape to go all the way.
In the semi final they came up against Emyvale 'B' in early August. Voreen Quigley was to the fore hitting some wonderful scores over the hour in a convincing victory 5-18 to 3-6. In the final they came up against Latton on August 26 and again showed why they were the top side in the county with an impressive 4-13 to 2-6 win of the former Ulster champions. The decisive moments in the game came between the 35th and 48th minutes when the Grattan's hit three goals, two from Voreen Quigley and one from Bronagh Duffy. Central to the victory was the performance of centre half back Laura Kelly who turned in a Player of the Match performance.
Team (v Latton): Fiona Callan, Eimear Kelly, Sharon McGahon, Ruth Lorenz, Arlene Kelly Laura Kelly, Ashling McGeeney, Miriam Kelly, Isobel Kieran, Linda Callan, Tracy McGeeney, Abby Duffy, Miriam Kelly, Bronagh Duffy, Voreen Quigley, Roisin McKenna. Subs Used: Julieanne Finnegan, Edel Kieran.
The disappointment of pervious years were put behind them and with the county title finally secured their attention now turned to the Ulster championship and the pressure somewhat lifted off their shoulders. In the quarter-final they travelled to Fermanagh champions St Pats Donagh and came away with a three point victory 1-10 to 2-4. Voreen Quigley struck for the game's opening major to help Inniskeen lead at the break by six points. The home side fought their way back into contention and it look a last minute penalty save from Fiona Callan to see Inniskeen home and into the last four.
In the semi-final they had home advantage to Donegal champions Cloughaneely and with it they eased past the challenge with 13 points to spare (3-10 to 1-3). In the final they faced Tyrone side Sperrin Og in St Mellen's Park, Truagh. Goals were to prove their down turn on the day with the Tyrone girls finding the net on three occasion to come out on top 3-5 to 0-7. Inniskeen had started the brighter of the sides but two goals for the winners saw them lead at the break by two points. The Grattan's thought they had the goal they craved early in the second half only for it to be ruled out and a free given to the Red Hand side. With it went the hopes of an Ulster title as a third goal at the other end soon after wrapped up the victory for the Greencastle outfit. Hopes of a double championship success was dashed and so too were the hopes of landing the league title when Corduff defeated them in the Division 2 decider. Tweet
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