Want to hear someone talk up the game of hurling? Want to get an insight into what drives a man to play both hurling and football in Monaghan almost all year round? Then read on. Arthur Hughes is an Armagh man by birth but for the last four years he's been making waves on both hurling and football fronts in his adopted county Monaghan. It is said that by dint of the increasing demands placed upon them, dual players in the traditional powerbreaking counties of Cork and Galway are an increasingly rare species. In such high-profile counties however the rewards are generally generous and the support systems meaningful and conducive to elongating careers. In Monaghan GAA circles, prolonging the lifespan of a dual player's career isn't necessarily what concentrates the minds of club and county officials. And we're not talking about poor relations here. The simple fact of the matter is that football and hurling predominate in different worlds in counties like Monaghan, Cavan, Kilkenny, Donegal et al. One wonders what fuels the enthusiasm of our man Hughes then? What drives him on to become so adept at hurling, for instance, that he goes and gets himself an award in 2003 as Monaghan's Senior Hurler of the Year? "I love sport and Gaelic games has always played a big part in my family upbringing. "My father and uncles all played hurling and football. I enjoy playing both games and I'd like to continue playing them for as long as my health allows," insists the popular farmer. Reflecting on the 2003 season which saw him receive the county's Hurler of the Year award, the Middletown native says it was a special year for him because Clontibret's senior league and championship successes marked his first medals won in club hurling circles in Monaghan. But what prompted the liason with Clontibret's hurlers in the first place? "I was playing football with Tyholland anyway but then JJ Sullivan, the manager of the Clontibret hurling team, asked me would I fancy playing with them. "I had a difference of opinion with Middletown around then and I decided to switch teams; simple as that." A seasoned dual player with Middletown, Arthur's switch to the duality game just across the border was seamless and destined to be successful. Ironically, he has actually since lined out for Monaghan against the Orchard County. That was in 2003 in a second round national league tie in Keady. "We were winning by four points with a couple of minutes left to play when Gerard Enright of Keady scored 1-1 and that was that." Over the years, Arthur has proven his mettle in both Gaelic ball games but hurling, he says, has always been his preferred game. "It's more of a manly game, more skilful and it takes a lot more time and practice to perfect it," explains Arthur who collected a division two football medal with Tyholland in 2004. It helped Arthur, of course, as he strove hard over the years to ride two horses at the same time, that he was never too far from the winner's enclosure at any given time during his football and hurling career. Middletown, he tells us, could always hold their own in the best of company in Armagh, particularly in hurling circles at senior level. In this respect, he prides himself on the fact that he was a member of three Armagh SHC medals with Middletown in 1991, '95 and '99. It was apparently slightly different though when Arthur was coming up through the ranks in the border club. He remembers figuring, almost continuously, in the losers' camp while playing underage hurling with Middletown. As for his time south of the border at adult level, well we all know of Tyholland's football pedigree and Clontibret's predilection for sitting at the top table at season's end. After a dozen more years now playing both hurling and football at the top level in Armagh and Monaghan, it's not surprising that Arthur admits to a touch of battle fatigue at this stage. "I'm in as good a shape as I've ever been but training and playing both games doesn't get any easier. "Since 2000 I've been playing pretty much flat out with only a few weeks off, especially since I started playing with the Monaghan senior hurlers just under three years ago. "The commitment at club level now is not far away from what you're asked to do at county level. "I'd often be togging out six times a week, sometimes maybe seven. But I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't want to." Meanwhile, talk of his link-up with his adopted county hurlers and memories of his inauspicious curtain call comes flying back. "I had only three or four training sessions with Monaghan under my belt when I was sent on as a sub in my debut against Mayo in the 2002 national league division four final. "The final went to a replay but I got sent off the first day. "I met an old adversary I had tangled with when I played with Armagh and we didn't see eye to eye," recalls the 30-year old whose inter-county career was launched by erstwhile Monaghan supremo John Andrews. A play anywhere-type player whose preferred position can range anywhere from central attack to midfield or full-back or centre-back. The 2003 season must have been his best to date though? "It was a good season all-round. Beating 'Blayney in the championship and then Carrick in the league was great and that was definitely the highlight of my time with Clontibret so far." As far as the county hurling scene has been concerned, patience and frustration have been the names of the game for Arthur so far. "The year started off badly for me in that I got a knock in the back and missed most of March and April. "I lined out at full-forward against Down in the championship at Clones but I wasn't half-fit and that was disappointing, and all the more so because we lost by two points," explains Arthur who ended up on the losing side despite scoring 1-3 in the first ten minutes of the match. In assessing the strength of hurling in Monaghan right now, the former Middletown and Armagh ace - he was a debutant with the latter at the age of 18 - is convinced that Monaghan hurling isn't that far off the pace in terms of the overall standard of the game in Ulster. "I'd say after Antrim, Down and Derry, we come next or at least on a par with Donegal and Armagh. "With the Monaghan Under 21s showing up well and young hurlers like Bernard O'Brien of Latton, 'Blayney's Brian McGuigan and Owen Greenan of Clontibret coming through, the future doesn't look too bad at all for the game. As it stands there's a fairly good mix of youth and experience in the county squad with Pat Walsh and Robbie Healy and myself at the other end of the age scale." What did he make of the departure of John Andrews from the helm? "I was disappointed to see him leave. I thought he brought us on as a panel; his approach was more professional and as far as I'm aware he got all the support he needed from the county board." Interestingly, Arthur still believes that investment by the county board in better training facilities is crucial to the advancement of Monaghan hurling. While his own club Clontibret boast quality lights, he believes that being able to play hurling at night time requires the most specialist lights around of the type that aren't yet available in the county." Looking to the year ahead, Arthur says that given the choice of a national league medal or a provincial junior championship medal, he unequivocally says he'd take the latter. Watch this space. Work in progress Outsiders say that the football side of things in Clontibret has a transition look about it. Elder statesman Michael Hughes doesn't disagree. Kevin Carney reports. Seasoned Clontibret footballer Michael Hughes cautions anyone thinking about writing off his club as the start of a new season screams into view. In the world of tabloid journalism, you can almost picture the headlines proclaiming in big, black, bold lettering; 'write us off at your peril'. But headline making is not Michael's hobby and, instead, the long-serving Hughes is well and truly rooted to a conservative, easy-going mode of travel through this life. Putting his head in a noose isn't what he's about. Nevertheless he stands by his contention that it won't be any surprise if the Mick Duffy Cup eventually wings its way back Clontibret-way in the coming year. "There are around four or five teams who'll be in the leading pack and we'll be one of them. "We know that we can only improve on what we've done over the last couple of years. "The talent is there in the club and with the right management regime in place, we can beat the best of the rest," Michael insists. Beating the likes of defending champions Magheracloone, perennial challengers Latton and up-and-coming Scotstown won't be easy though, the tireless Clontibret attacks acknowledges and faults brutally exposed in the team in 2004 will have to be ironed out, he admits. "We were poor last season, no doubt about it even though I think it was largely inexperience that cost us. " There just wasn't the right blend in the team last Summer. "We're going through a bit of a transition period right now but, having said that, we had a fair few injury problems to contend with which didn't help," the Dublin-based Computer Programmer adds. It seems like the Mick Duffy Cup-winning season of 2002 is a fast fading memory for the gaels of Clontibret. Defeat in the 2003 league final to Latton was a sore one too, Michael confesses, but another disappointment which is more greyish than black and white 12 months on. As honest as he is dedicated to the Clontibret cause, Michael says that 2004 put the tin hat on the club's recent travails. "We got off to a bad start in the championship by losing to Scotstown in the first round. "They didn't win by much but they were the better team on the day and we couldn't have any complaints. "It was a bad blow all the same because in my time we were always able to handle Scotstown. "You'd have to give credit to their backroom team on the day because they made a couple of shrewd switches which came off for them and we paid the price." An unsurprising result? "I don't know about that. "But I think that was the first time I'd ever been on a Clontibret team beaten by Scotstown in the championship. "The last time they beat us was, I think, in the 1991 senior championship final and I was too young to play in that game," Michael recalls. The fact that Michael's brother John had to retire injured almost immediately after the throw-in in the Scotstown match could hardly have helped Clontibret's cause, one suspects, but the 29-year old Clontibret attacker shies away from attempting to proffer an excuse(s) for the team's defeat to the blues. Although not a team ordinarily given to relying on the 'back door' for relief or sustenance, Clontibret were only too happy to go down the unorthodox route in their bid to recapture the holy grail of Monaghan football. And so a tie with Inniskeen at the Donaghmoyne venue transpired. Everyone bar none in the Clontibret expected their favourites to inflict the necessary defeat on the Grattans. But things didn't stick to the script. The Farneysiders shocked their vaunted opponents. It appeared as if the small, tight confines of the Donaghmoyne pitch didn't exactly suit Clontibret against the more physical Inniskeen crew. "With no disrespect to Inniskeen, we fully expected to beat them. "The spirit wasn't that bad in the camp after the Scotstown defeat and we reckoned that the Inniskeen game offered us the perfect opportunity for a pick-me-up. "We regrouped after the Scotstown game and everything seemed okay going into the Inniskeen game but, unfortunately, nobody played well on the day. "They scored three goals in the first ten minutes which knocked the heart out of us a bit and we found it very hard to get into the match from there on even though we pulled back the deficit to something like two points." In fairness the absence of former countyman Damien McKenna (England) and Anthony Rooney (U.S) in the club's senior championship campaign proved more than a little bit of a handicap. A reflection maybe on the club's lack of strength in depth? "I thought we had enough in reserve but the thing is that apart from only three or four fellas, our Junior B players and the senior players are all the same. "I think our defeat to Inniskeen in particular had more to do with complacency and inexperience than lack of back-up or talent. "Some of the younger players just weren't experienced enough to rise their game for the championship. "The step up from league to championship seemed to catch some of them out." Winner of three SFC medals in his time with Clontibret, Michael says he doesn't fault any of the younger members of the squad. He accepts the younger brigade can't be expected to demonstrate the requiste level of experience right now and it will take at least another season before they realise what it takes to crack the Mick Duffy Cup code. No question of Clontibret being on the slippery slope then? "No chance. People who think that would be very much mistaken. It's the very opposite. "There's some serious talent in the club at the minute and competition for places on the team is as good as it's ever been since I started to play for the seniors." But has Clontibret's own exacting standards dropped since their last blue riband success in '02? "I think it's more a case of other clubs like Latton, Scotstown and, of course, Magheracloone raising their standards. "Even the so-called weaker clubs in the county have improved over the last few years. "Competition all round in Monaghan has become more fierce since 2002 which can only be good for Monaghan football," Michael opines. Interestingly as a recent observer of the Tyrone SFC final between Dromore and Carrickmore, Michael believes that the standard in vaunted counties like Tyrone and Armagh "is no great shakes." "I don't see any great gap in the standard of football that you'd see in Monaghan and what you'd see in Tyrone. "I thought their (Tyrone) final this year was poor. "I think the race to win the Mick Duffy Cup in Monaghan comes down to a few outstanding footballers in each of the clubs in the running. I think we have probably the better balanced side in the county but we just have to tighten up in a couple of areas and we'll be back in business." Travelling home three times every week, on average, doesn't seem to have drained Michael of his enthusiasm or the energy he has left to expend on Clontibret football affairs. Leaving the city at 4pm for training and arriving at 6.30pm with a couple of other players on board comes like second nature for him at this stage but he's acutely aware of the sacrifice and the level of commitment required even at club level. "I think there's another two good years in me. I'd love to win another senior championship medal and I think we can. " It's makes you mad to look back and see that we beat Inniskeen in the league by something like 20 points but didn't beat them in the championship. " But the spirit in the club is still good and while Latton will be fancied by a lot of people to go the distance next year, nobody should write us off." Wouldn't dare Michael! Tweet

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