ULSTER U21 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD FINAL. Monaghan 2-10 Fermanagh 1-9 In the early stages it looked as if Monaghan would win this fairly low-key under 21 Shield final pulling up but in the end they were clinging on desperately as a resurgent Fermanagh recovered from a poor start to push the issue right to the wire in Kingspan Breffni Park on Wednesday evening last. The game ended on something of a sour note however with an incident flaring in the final minutes that involved a number of players and officials from both sides which resulted in Monaghan full back Peter Treanor and Fermanagh's Shea Curran being dismissed on straight red cards. The incident was out of character with most of the rest of the game but the final minutes were tense with Fermanagh suffering further in stoppage time when JP McGarry was dismissed on a second yellow card although he was somewhat fortunate to be still on the field at that stage. Both sides fielded at less than full strength but Fermanagh seemed to suffer more in that regard than Monaghan with as many as 11 changes from the team announced for the match. Monaghan got off to a great start and led by nine points at the end of the opening quarter but Fermanagh, mostly through the efforts of Matthew Teague at centre back, Francis McBrien at right half back Sean Corrigan in the half forward line began to establish a foothold and by half time they had the margin down to seven points. Entering the final 10 minutes the game was totally up for grabs with a goal by Francis McBrien bringing Fermanagh to within four points to set the scene for a tense finish. Unfortunately the tension boiled over and it was a rather frenetic finale to what had been an enjoyable if never spectacular contest. Monaghan relied almost exclusively on the accuracy of Jason O'Rourke who scored nine points, all from frees while Sean Corrigan contributed five of Fermanagh's points, four from frees. The modern defence was repeatedly tested but had answers to most of the questions that Fermanagh asked particularly through the work of Peter Treanor at full-back, Barney Connor in the corner and Raymond Lee at centre back. For Fermanagh Matthew Teague was one of their mainstays in the centre back role and he got good support from Francis McBrien and Shea Curran. Monaghan opened the scoring with a point from a free by Jason O'Rourke in the opening minute with Fermanagh equalising through Sean Corrigan, also from a free, a minute later. Monaghan were applying all the pressure but were off target from two attempts before they struck a decisive blow when Conor McKenna latched on to a weak clearance to lash to the Fermanagh net in the seventh minute. Jason O'Rourke added a point from a free in the eighth minute with Monaghan then finding the Fermanagh net again a minute later when Jerry Brady rifled home from close range to put Monaghan seven points in front and Fermanagh struggling. Jason O'Rourke pointed another free in the 10th minute and they should have extended their lead in the following minutes but were off target from a number of attempts including a '65. Fermanagh were similarly wasteful at this stage before Jason O'Rourke added another point for Monaghan in the 18th minute to put them nine points in front. Fermanagh though were now coming more into the game with Shea Curran and Sean Corrigan registering points apiece, the latter from a free, in the 19th and 20th minutes to reduce the deficit to seven. Jason O'Rourke added another from a free in the 21st minute with Fermanagh now stepping up the pressure for three unanswered points between the 22nd and 26th minutes, two by Sean Corrigan, one from a free and the other by minor player Rory Porteous to reduce the deficit to five. In the closing minutes of the first half Monaghan again reasserted their superiority with two points from Jason O'Rourke, both from frees, to leave seven points between the sides at the break, Monaghan 2-7, Fermanagh 0-6. Jason O'Rourke pointed a free for Monaghan in the fourth of the second-half to restore his side to an eight points lead but Monaghan were not to score again until the 20th minute as Fermanagh established an increasing foothold to score three unanswered points between the 9th and 19th minutes, two from frees by Sean Corrigan and Shea Curran and a great solo point from Francis McBrien to reduce the deficit to five. That margin might have in fact have been narrower at that stage had the cross bar not intervened to deny Sean Corrigan in the 12th minuteat the end of an incisive move. Monaghan rallied for a point by Jason O'Rourke from a free in the 20th minute and a great individual score from Eanna MacSuibhne a minute later, Monaghan's first point from play to give them a seven points lead entering the final 10 minutes. Two minutes the game was thrown wide open when Fermanagh got the goal they had been threatening for some time when one of a series of high centres into the Monaghan area broke to Francis McBrien and he first timed to the net from close range to reduce the deficit to four points. Monaghan to their credit rallied again but were wide of the target from three consecutive attempts while at the other end their defence have seen to good effect as Fermanagha came in search of further scores. Two minutes from the end of normal time an incident erupted that saw both sides reduced to 14 players but no further scores accrued to either side when order was restored and play resumed. Jason O'Rourke was uncharacteristically off target from a long-range free going into stoppage time with Fermanagh then reduced further numerically with the second yellow card dismissal of JP McGarry. In the remaining minutes Fermanagh threw everything into attack but the Monaghan defence held firm with Barney Connor fielding well as they held out for a four points victory. Teams and Scorers: Monaghan: Hugh Byrne, Stefan McKenna, Peter Treanor, Barney Connor, Damien McCarron, Raymond Lee, Mark Treanor, Conor McKenna 1-0, Daniel McGuigan, Aenghus MacSuibhne, Eanna MacSuibhne 0-1, Jason O'Rourke 0-9 (9f), Gavin Baxter, Jerry Brady 1-0, Shane McNally. Subs: Barry Woods for S McNally, Patrick Hannon for G Baxter. Fermanagh: Dwayne McPhillips, David McGorman, Colm Rice, Niall Lunney, Francis McBrien 1-1, Matthew Teague, Owen Markey, Shea Curran 0-2 (1f), Paul McGoldrick, Barry Jones, JP McGarry, Sean Corrigan 0-5 (4f), Rory Porteous 0-1, Sean McCusker, Michael Fee. Subs: David Harte for S McCusker. Referee: Kieran McGuinness (Down). REACTION. The tense and rather fractious ending left most people somewhat phased at the end of last Wednesday evening's game as the tension persisted into the after match formalities and the chairman of the Ulster Hurling Committee Aogan Farrell had to call for order on a couple of occasions before been able to present the trophy to Eanna Mac Suibhne. Like most other people Frank Brady regretted how the whole thing had ended but overall he was very pleased that Monaghan had won the match but quickly pointed out that it was backs to the wall stuff after a very promising start. "Yes we got off to a great start but then we were clinging on somewhat at the very end but that sometimes happens. I don't know what it is, whether its that boys think maybe they are going to win it easily and then the opposition comes back at you which is what happened and we did have some anxious moments there towards the end but fair play to the lads the defence played very, very well. Someone suggested that it was a makeshift Fermanagh team we were playing and it was but we were something of a makeshift team ourselves because we were missing a number of players today and it is to be very much regretted that players again turned their backs of the county. Having said that however, it's great to win this competition, and fair play to the lads who stuck at it and gave it their best shot". As winners of the Shield competition Monaghan now move on to the Ulster U21 championship proper and later to the All Ireland semi-final of the U21 "B" championship. In the Ulster U21 championship they will play Armagh and Frank Brady readily agreed that it is something that he does not agree with as he believes that moving up to the U21 championship proper against the really strong teams can actually have a negative effect. "We now move on to play Armagh in the Ulster U21 championship but I don't mind admitting that Armagh are far too strong for us and there's every chance that we will ship a fairly heavy defeat which will not do anyone any good. We are far better to just move on to the All Ireland U21 "B" semi final where we are competing at our own level of but as it stands we have to play our Armagh we have to make the best of it. Hopefully we'll get a few of the other lads back and it will give everybody another game but quite honestly I don't think that arrangement is doing anything positive for the development of hurling". Despite the disappointing finish to the game and the disappointment that Monaghan have suffered this season in both league and Rackard Cup action Frank Brady had to be pleased that he had put some silverware on the table. "Yes it's good to get some reward for all the work and I suppose maybe I have a little bit of a tradition in that regard in that I always seem to get some little bit of silverware with whatever teams I am with. As I said before the boys playing at this level are the future of the game and the last time we won this competition players like Declan Crowe and Stephen Lambe were on that team and have come up through to represent the county at senior level. Hopefully the same will happen with this team but as I said in the aftermath of the game against Sligo everyone involved in hurling is going to have to take a long hard look at themselves and where they want to see hurling going. I know where it can go but I will not be able to bring it there on my own, it will need the full commitment of everyone to training and matches and if we get that then Monaghan can move up the rankings again". Tweet

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