Clones needed a boost as the 2003 season gathered pace. The success-starved club duly got it too at season's end in the shape of a Dr. Ward Cup triumph. The dogs in the street were barking it out. The rest of the clubs in Monaghan knew the story too. In recent years, Clones have desperately needed a boost to energise the local faithful and inspire the apathetic among their number. And right on cue, 2003 brought deliverance in the shape of success in the Dr. Ward Cup and with it promotion to intermediate ranks. After the disappointment of a 2002 season which ultimately promised much more than it delivered, a league title win in the club's most recent campaign certainly had chins pointing northwards for a change among the white and blues. And yet the past year began with few of the Clones brigade truly convinced that silverware was in the pipeline although with James McKernan installed as captain of the seniors and Daragh Graham handed the role of captain of the reserves, the players knew that they wouldn't be short of leadership. The 2003 league season was to be a long, arduous and at times trying one. Indeed the 0-9 to 1-6 opening round draw with neighbours Currin at the tail-end of March hinted at as much. But with the return of countyman Michael Slowey and a morale-boosting 2-12 to 0-10 win away in the second round to Cremartin in mid-April, slowly but surely expectations in the Clones camp began to meander skywards. The Cremartin game saw the aforementioned Slowey show his class in notching 1-4 while Declan McKernan's four point tally and a goal by Donal Quigley suggested that Clones had the means up front to cause any of the other teams in the junior league a lot of trouble. The would-be league winners rollercoaster campaign later saw them go down by seven points to Monaghan Harps in mid-June albeit with an understrength team which was further weakened by the forced withdrawal of midfielder Brian Quinn due to a nasty hand injury. Defeat thereafter to Cremartin in the Junior Championship wasn't what the doctor ordered though and those close to the team were entitled to wonder whether heads would go down in the wake of the setback to the Shamrocks. And when the St. Tighernach's Park -based crew lost out to neighbours Killeevan, albeit by just a single point, in their next championship outing, the prospect of the club's year taking a nosedive looked to be a real possibility. However confidence was restored to a large degree by mid-July when the team climbed further up the league table thanks to a fine 1-15 to 1-6 win in the Dr. Ward Cup over erstwhile championship conquerors Cremartin. And the club's league momentum was subsequently added to a fortnight later when the re-arranged game with Toome at St. Tighernach's Park saw the homesters collect another two points by playing some really good football for the most part. Clones's up and down season continued unabated after the traditional two-week holiday break with neighbours Killeevan plundering both league points in St. Tighernach's Park on foot of a 0-16 to 2-9 scoreline on August 10th. Clones had looked the better team in the early stages of the game and points from Donal Quigley and Declan McKernan (two) got the hosts off to the proverbial flyer. However by the end of the first quarter, Killeevan had drawn level but thanks in part to a Declan McKernan goal, Clones edged into a 1-5 to 0-7 interval lead. However Clones slumped badly in the third-quarter to trail by four points but they were later thrown a lifeline when Declan McKernan at first earned a penalty and then converted it to reduce his team's deficit to the minimum. However that was as close as Clones got to taking something from the match although within two weeks the result would be reversed in cracking style. Once again the local derby proved to be a frenetic affair in Newbliss but at the end of the hour-plus of hotly-contested football, the visitors emerged 2-14 to 1-13 victors to leave them in third spot in the league table with 17 points collected from 12 games played. A walkover against Killanny at the end of August kept Clones on track for a play-off sport. However the spectre of having no further club match until the weekend of 20/21 September wasn't exactly conducive to keeping fellas motivated and finely-tuned as the club sought to copper-fasten their advance in the competition with by collecting at least two points from their two remaining games. Unfortunately Clones were forced to field an understrength team for their clash with visitors Monaghan Harps and duly paid the price. As things transpired, two late goals for the county town side did the damage after Clones had enjoyed the better of the exchanges prior to their concession. Although rather meaningless in deciding the identity of the league semi-finalists, the loss to Monaghan did mean that Clones had to travel to Aughnamullen in their penultimate game of the title race. However in the event, the concession of home territory counted for nought as Clones skipped to a deserved and rather convincing 2-7 to 0-5 win on October 12th at Sarsfield Park. In what was a rather poor encounter overall, Clones kept their best wine till last to leave their opponents punch drunk and out of the competition. Although Declan McKernan edged Clones into a 0-1 to 0-0 lead after five minutes, scores for the remainder of the half were kept a minimum as most of the play centred around a claustrophobic diamond area of the field. And while Aughnamullen nipped into a 0-2 to 0-1 lead by the 28th minute, that was to be the one and only time that Clones were headed in the match. Indeed, a sign of things to come in the second half appeared when Clones finished the first half with a flourish with points by Michael Slowey and Brian Quinn catapulting the visitors into the lead by the odd point in five at the half-time break. While Aughnamullen continued to find it difficult to finish off some promising approach work, Clones proceeded to show that they were much more efficient in front of goal. And when Fergal Nugent found the Aughnamullen net in the 6th minute, a cloak of inevitability slowly but surely wafted its way over proceedings as the winners-elect prepared to go for the jugular. Aughnamullen tried to stay in touch and a point by Alan Duffy in the 14th minute did give the homesters some hope, however faint, as they chased a four point game. That deficit was then reduced to three by the 21st minute but any hope of a major turnaround in the game was destroyed between the 22nd and 25th minutes when Clones recorded an unanswered 1-3 tally to all but book their place in the league decider. Points from Fergal Nugent, Declan McKernan and substitute Colin McCaughey extended Clones lead to six points with seven minutes left on the clock. It was really all over bar the shouting at that juncture but, just for good measure, Donal Quigley intercepted an attempted clearance out of the Aughnamullen defence to grab the ball and rifle it with the minimum of fuss to the back of the net for a match-clinching goal. And so to the final against Cremartin on November 2nd in Tyholland. Pre-match expectations which ordained that the fight for the second promotion spot to intermediate ranks was going to be fiercely and closely fought proved spot on as Clones and the Shamrocks locked horns in the Dr. Ward Cup decider. And while the post-mortems among the organisers might have been 'never mind the quality, feel the excitement, the final turned out to be a real war of attrition between two teams who knew each other inside out and were very evenly matched. Not that well-matched though to prevent a clear winner emerging. In the end, Clones proved that bit more economical with their use of the ball and a goal by Donal Quigley just six minutes before the interval proved all-important in steering Clones to a deserved 1-8 to 0-6 victory. With a five point tally over the hour, Michael Slowey proved to be a real thorn in Cremartin's side but, in truth, Slowey had a lot of deputies alongside him as Clones fashioned a promotion-winning victory. Elsewhere, for instance, full-back Fintan Cunningham was a real tower of strength as was William Gillard at midfield and further back, Paul Connolly. All told, Clones proved much the better team on the day even though they fell behind in the 7th minute to a Barry Carragher point. Significantly though, the losers-elect didn't add to their tally for a further 17 minutes by which juncture Clones had amassed a five point cushioned lead. A point by Eugene Holland in the 10th minute got Clones up and running and then a Fergal McFarland point five minutes later had the side in front. And then after Slowey also pointed, goalscorer Quigley got in on the act after good work in the 24th minute by William Gillard. Leading by 1-3 to 0-2 on the restart, Clones quickly set about consolidating their advantage with a fine point from Donal Quigley doing the necessary after just two minutes. And when Michael Slowey converted a free to leave seven between the sides in the 6th minute, Cremartin's cause looked increasingly ragged. Two converted frees did retain some interest for Cremartin but a brace of points from the elusive Slowey plus the dismissal of a Cremartin player seven minutes from time hastened the inevitable Clones celebrations. It was all so easy from there to the finish for Clones as they crossed the finishing line pulling up. For the record, the Clones players who clinched the Dr. Ward Cup with their five point win over Cremartin was as follows: Manus Quinn; Aidan Gillard, Fintan Cunningham, Paul Connolly; Fergal McFarland (0-1), James McKernan, Michael Treanor; Brian Quinn, William Gillard; Eugene Holland (0-1), Michael Slowey (0-5); John McDonald; Donal Quigley (1-1), Declan McKernan, Fergal Nugent. Subs; Colin McCaughey for John McDonald; Niall Nolan for Fergal Nugent; Patrick McCarville for Eugene Holland; Aidan Treanor for Donal Quigley. Tweet

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