Records are meant to be broken and Munterconnacht's uneviable record of never having won a county minor title just had to be scattered to the four corners of Breffni. And so it came to pass with the magnificent triumph last October of their division three league squad. Kevin Carney takes up the story. Like all champions-elect, the Munterconnacht minor crew of 2001 were excellently prepared, both mentally and physically, as the season got underway. A good pre-season was to be suitably embellished by an emphatic, unbeaten league campaign which would see them hailed as unquestionably the best among their peers. Even allowing for the twin distractions of the leaving certificate and, earlier, the foot-and-mouth scare, Munterconnacht's preparations for the minor league campaign were spot-on, leaving nothing to chance. The players' fitness levels were worked on early in the season and then as the league campaign approached the emphasis on improving their ball skills became more pronounced. Significantly, even the onset of a few injury problems early in the year failed to throw the Munterconnacht lads off their stride. The club had a clear objective and that was to extricate themselves from division three. Any hurdles standing in their way were to be straddled purposefully and with conviction. All teams were deemed beatable by the management and in their group matches, such psychology certainly seemed to be ingrained in the players mindsets. Simply said, Munterconnacht were a class apart in their group. The would-be champions failed to drop a single point en route to the semi-final stages as Cootehill Celtic, Mountnugent, Laragh Utd, Killinkere and Ballymachugh were each in turn turned over in exciting and sometimes emphatic manner. Reflecting on the team's sorties in the group, team-manager Mickey Plunkett says his charges adhered to the script straight away: "The lads proved themselves to be a very disciplined bunch throughout the campaign and, in that respect, I think we had an advantage over some of the teams we met. "We asked the fellas to do certain things and they did just that with no qualms or reservations. For instance when we played Killinkere we had to be mindful of the possible damage which county minor James Clarke could do on us but we asked Peter Cullen to do a man-marking job on him and Peter did exceptionally well over the hour." In what was a long-drawn out campaign which ran from the last Saturday in February through to the middle of October, the Munterconnacht minor panel stuck to their task with due diligence, confidence and determination. The campaign didn't always run smoothly. Injuries were picked up along the way and some of the players were understandably marked missing as they were asked to turn up for duty in the junior championship. "Irrespective of who lined out on any particular day, all the players gave everything they had. Anyone among the 18-member panel who came off the subs bench for us did a very good job," Mickey assures us. Like many another club in the county, Munterconnacht is a club which invariably struggles on occasions to get together a squad of players which boasts the type of strength in depth that smacks of title-winning proportions so even though the competition was restricted to 11-aside, the club did extremely well to weather such a long campaign with just five subs. In Munterconnacht like so many other clubs, the likes of Mickey Plunkett and his selector Peter Cullen just simply had to make the best use of the talent they had available to them in 2001. "Numbers are always a problem in Munterconnacht but the minor lads from last year have a winning pedigree and a self-belief and confidence that comes with being successful and that, in turn, helps make the job of motivating and managing such a group that much easier," Mickey informs us. Indeed with medals garnered at under 12, 13, 14 and 16 down the years, the Munterconnacht minor class of 2001 could have been expected to go close to adding minor honours to their c.v. But how did team-manager Plunkett size up their chances at the start of the year? "I felt that if they were well enough prepared and they gave it 100% during the year we would go very close to lifting the title. We knew it wasn't going to be easy though. "I've found over the last five years or thereabouts that it's getting harder and harder to lift silverware at underage circles in Cavan. "The coaching is so much better these days at each club and the skill levels of the players in general are that much higher. Players' fitness levels have improved a lot too so if you do happen to succeed in winning a title, you've generally earned it." Undefeated in their group, Munterconnacht proceeded to meet Cavan Gaels in the semi-final in Stradone. In some ways, it was a match which would be the making of the Munterconnacht team. "We wondered beforehand whether or not our lads were going to approach the game in a more nervous, apprehensive way simply because it was the Gaels we were playing but thankfully the lads settled down from early on in the match and really rose to the challenge. "It was a great all-round team performance against Cavan Gaels but I thought our goalkeeper Donal Heery was particularly outstanding in making some really crucial saves which helped us a lot in edging home by two points." Their confidence tremendously boosted by the win over the county town side, Munterconnacht went into the final against Kildallan in an optimistic frame of mind. So what did the Munterconnacht think-tank team know about their opponents? "Very little. We had heard that they too had been impressive in their group and the fact that they had a few players who were featuring regularly on their junior team meant that obviously had a good backbone in their team. We treated them with the utmost respect in the run-up to the final." Played on October 6th at Breffni Park before a very vocal crowd and in perfect conditions, the final proved to be a fine advertisement for underage football in Cavan and at the end of a thrilling hour's football, Munterconnacht duly created history on the back of a 1-11 to 2-6 victory. By Mickey's own admission, Munterconnacht weren't at their best though in the first half. The players, in general, underperformed in the opening 30 minutes and a missed penalty opportunity didn't inspire confidence either. "We were getting enough possession out around the field but we seemed to miss our way once we tried to move forward towards their goal. We were normally quick starters but the lads just weren't playing to their best in the first half," Mickey recalls. When the going got tough though the Munterconnacht lads fairly rolled up their sleeves to display true grit and determination. And, boy, did it not pay off! Defending the town end of the pitch in the opening half, Munterconnacht did, in fact, threaten to dictate the pace of the game in the early stages but Kildallan proved the more potent outfit in attack and the Munterconnacht defence had to be on the top of their game to limit their opponents' goal chances. As things transpired, a fine point by Thomas Brady tied the scores as the game assumed a traditional see-saw pattern. Still Kildallan looked up for it and soon Munterconnacht found themselves 0-1 to 0-3 behind. Back came the winners-elect though and John McCabe was unlucky to see his goalbound shot bounce wide off the crossbar after 17 exciting minutes. Munterconnacht stuck to their task though and a converted free by Dara Carroll steadied the ship, leaving just the minimum between the sides. A goal by Kildallan in the 21st minute however put added pressure on Munterconnacht and just moments later the blue and whites were thankful to 'keeper Donal Heery for a brillant save to deny Kildallan what seemed a certain goal. The west Cavan side did manage to grab a second goal though minute later and while Dara Carroll replied with a point, Munterconnacht did found themselves chasing a 0-4 to 2-3 deficit as the second half got underway. A goal after just 22 seconds of play by John McCabe was the perfect filip for Munterconnacht as Kildallan were rocked back on their heels. A further point from the same player soon afterwards left just the minimum between the sides as the tension rose considerably. Therafter further points by the aforementioned Carroll and McCabe levelled matters with nine minutes remaining. It was all Munterconnacht at this juncture and when John McCabe's overhead kick put Munterconnacht in front in the 51st minute for the first time in the match, there was simply no stopping the blue and whites. Driving relentlessly towards the Kildallan goal, Munterconnacht proceeded to put the icing on the cake with three unanswered points from Carroll (two) and McCabe. History had been made. The following is the all-conquering Munterconnacht team and scorers: Donal Heery, Brendan McDonald, Jamie Hetherton, Kevin Gilsenan, Peter Cullen, Derek Baugh, Thomas Brady (0-1), Pauric McEnroe, Brendan Plunkett, John McCabe (1-4), Brian Cullen, Eugene Tighe, Dara Carroll (0-6). Tweet

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