Nothing to show after gallant effort
November 27, 2011
Circumstances conspired against Magheracloone in 2011. Due to the intervention of those terrible triplets - injuries, emigration and suspension - the Mitchells hardly ever got their best team out onto the pitch. Still, they battled gamely for silverware in both senior competitions, finishing top of the league and storming through to the latter stages of the SFC.
It was a brave effort from Magheracloone in 2011 but they came up empty-handed, much to the disappointment of manager David Reilly, who returned to take charge of the team again, having masterminded the 2004 SFC triumph. The Louth man admits that Magheracloone were going all out for a second Mick Duffy Cup success in 2011 and nothing less than ultimate glory was ever going to suffice.
Hard to believe Magheracloone have still only won the Monaghan SFC once. Since the historic breakthrough of '04, the Kingscourt Road men have been in the shake-up for major honours almost every year, losing three finals, most notably the agonising 2010 defeat to Clontibret after a replay - a contest that could have gone either way and was ultimately decided in the cruellest of fashions.
With former Stabannon and Louth footballer Reilly at the helm again in 2011, the Mitchells set out their stall from the off: they intended to make amends for that defeat and bring the Mick Duffy Cup back to the south of the county. Following an early hiccup, their SFC campaign caught fire and Magheracloone surged through to the semi-final stage. Therein, they came up against a resurgent Scotstown. With the opposition down to 14 men before the interval and Magheracloone ahead by two points with wind advantage well into the second half, they looked odds on to book a county final day date with Latton, but they took their eye off the ball and were knocked out in a really disappointing manner, losing by a single point - a familiar story.
Reflecting on the season as a whole, the team manager notes: "The season fell short in the end. It's no secret that the team was determined to atone for what happened the previous year when they lost the SFC final after a replay. That was the goal."
Things really went against them, though, with a rash of key players unavailable almost all season long. "No different than any other club in the country, we were hit with emigration but we were still competitive in the league and we went into the championship with confidence. We got our eyes opened in the first round of the championship against Truagh, which left us with an uphill battle, but that defeat seemed to galvanise the lads and they produced a very good performance against Clontibret to advance to the semi-finals.
"Unfortunately, we fell short in the semi-final against Scotstown. We looked to be in pole position but took our foot off the gas and we had nobody to blame but ourselves."
The preliminary round of the 2011 Monaghan SFC threw up a major shock at sun-soaked Aughnamullen on the afternoon of Sunday, July 24th when Truagh beat Magheracloone by 2-13 to 0-8. Shorn of Tommy Freeman, Paudie Finnegan, Gavin Doogan and Francie Doogan, the losers managed just a single point from play over the hour, with centre forward Damien Freeman slotting seven frees. The back door beckoned…
Doohamlet provided the opposition at Corduff on Saturday, August 13th and Magheracloone got their championship season back on course with a 1-17 to 1-10 success. The performance was far from vintage as extra time was needed to see off the league strugglers, with the inspirational Damien Freeman again coming up trumps with a return of 1-8.
On Sunday, August 21st, there were signs that things were starting to click into gear as the Mitchells scored a highly-impressive 3-14 to 1-5 victory over Inniskeen at Aughnamullen.
Holders Clontibret had also been despatched into the back door (by champions-elect Latton), which meant the unlikely scenario of a winner-takes-all repeat of the 2010 county final at Inniskeen on the evening of Sunday, September 3rd. The Mitchells avenged the previous year's defeat with a superb 1-9 to 0-11 win, Paul Jones volleying the decisive goal just before half time.
This was the team that dumped Clontibret out of the 2011 Monaghan SFC: S Duffy; M Jones, P Ward, J Kieran; David Freeman, J Ward (captain), P Tuite; G Doogan, P Farnan; N Babington, P Jones (1-1), G Finnegan; F Kindlon, Damien Freeman (0-6), P Finnegan (0-2). Subs: N Tuite for David Freeman (30); K Rudden for Kindlon (49); C Burns for G Finnegan (59).
Four of the last five matches played in the Monaghan SFC in 2011 ended in one-point victories. This statistic gives a real insight into just how competitive the competition was. Unfortunately for Magheracloone, their slender win over Clontibret was followed by a sickening 2-7 to 0-12 semi-final defeat to Scotstown at Pairc Grattan on Friday, September 23rd. Played under lights, this was a repeat of the 2010 semi-final and the Mitchells - who at last had Tommy Freeman back from the States - looked to be home and hosed as they led against 14 men at the three-quarters stage, with the wind at their backs, but the north county men eventually took the spoils thanks to a brace of Kieran Hughes goals. For their part, Magheracloone will feel that they kicked this one away.
There was still the senior league to consider and Magheracloone finished top of the table, which meant a semi-final date with Clontibret, who they had beaten three times already in competitive meetings in 2011. However, the O'Neills prevailed by 0-11 to 0-9 on Saturday, October 8th to effectively end Magheracloone's season.
"There was still a serious hangover from the championship exit," the manager reflects. "It was all about the championship for Magheracloone this year and their heads were down once they went out. They really had pinned their hopes on winning the SFC again and it was just unfortunate that they came up short…"
Would it be fair to say the semi-final performance against Scotstown was one of the worst of the year? "No, I wouldn't say so. Our players just struggled to do the right thing on the day. We played well in the first half but just stopped in the second half when we seemed to have the game within our grasp. Scotstown dominated the last ten minutes and they are a big, strong physical team who are coming up and we have no complaints. Any one of five or six teams could win the Monaghan senior football championship at the moment - you have Ballybay, Latton obviously, Clontibret, Magheracloone, Scotstown and Truagh are also on the rise, especially having won their first minor championship."
Speaking of which, David also managed the St Brides side that won its first-ever Louth MFC title in 2011. His son Paddy captained the team that defeated Geraldines in the final.
Returning to Magheracloone, the former Louth player says he couldn't have asked for any more from the players in 2011: "They put a lot of work into it. We lost Frank Doogan to Australia at the start of the year and Gavin Doogan broke his ankle five minutes into the first league game. Losing two influential players like that would be a big blow for any rural club. Then, of course, Tommy Freeman was in American for three months; Paudie Finnegan was in the States for two or three months; and we lost Noel Tuite to a lengthy suspension.
"But we brought four minors onto the senior panel and those guys got some important match-time, which will serve the club well in the future. It's vital to bring fresh blood through and we managed to do that.
"Donal Kindlon and Padraig Kelly - both of whom were in the full-back line in 2004 - put in serious work alongside me on the management team and Bernard Freeman - who also played on that team - also does an incredible amount of work as club chairman. I couldn't speak highly enough about any of those men."
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