It just didn't happen for the Monaghan minor footballers in 2005. The county's select under 18 side faced Derry in the first round of the Ulster MF championship and were comprehensively beaten, 0-17 to 0-8, in Omagh on Sunday May 29. It was a disappointing eventuality as Monaghan appeared to have a decent crop of players at their disposal but, unfortunately, the sense of occasion seemed to get to them. Monaghan's 2005 minor championship opener was originally due to take place as curtain-raiser to the county's Ulster SFC meeting with Derry in Clones. However, as that match was fixed for June 5 and Monaghan have a policy of not playing any matches at U16 or minor level in the month of June due to exams, the MFC opener (and closer, as it turned out…) was brought forward a week. With the change of date, 'home' venue was also lost. In hindsight, so possibly was Monaghan's chance of advancing to a provincial semi-final. At Omagh, Paddy Bates' talent-laden side looked at times uncertain of themselves, anxious and decidedly nervous. Might it have been different at Clones with a much larger Monaghan support? Will we ever know? It's hard - and unfair - to be overly critical of a team that gives of its all, but the bottom line is that Monaghan's minors were outclassed by Derry in Healy Park and the nine-point losing margin is a clear reflection of the Foylesiders' clear superiority on the day. While the Farney boys failed to do themselves justice over the hour, Derry in contrast looked sharp, hungry, focused, confident and precise. In the run-up to the game, there was little to suggest the gulf in class that would emerge between the teams. Both teams had played Antrim in a challenge game not long before the championship started, and the results achieved were similar, suggesting that there was little to separate Derry and Monaghan. The counties had met in the Ulster minor league earlier in the season and Derry - with twelve of the same personnel on duty - had prevailed by the narrowest of margins on that occasion. It was a result that gave rise to optimism in the Monaghan camp, but the sad truth is that the championship match that followed was one-sided and Monaghan were never really in contention. Forced to plan for the championship without influential Drumhowan player Paul McArdle (who picked up an injury in the aforementioned challenge against Antrim), Monaghan never got about their opponents in Omagh and didn't do enough to upset the Derry strut or break Derry's powerful rhythm. The outcome was ominous, even from a very early stage in proceedings. Derry quickly imposed themselves on the game and Monaghan simply had no answer. With the would-be winners coming out best in all the key battles, Monaghan's game plan disintegrated along with their challenge as they surrendered to the inevitability of defeat. Losing the midfield battle and subsequently over-stretched in their half back line, Monaghan were unable to prevent a steady supply of quality ball going through to Derry's deadly full forward division. Full forward Niall McNicholl terrorised Monaghan from start to finish, supplementing some superb all-round play with a return of six points. It was a similar scenario in all the central positions, with the Oak Leafers holding sway all over. At midfield, the pairing of Blaine Gormley and Kevin O'Neill was particularly domineering. Monaghan's attack was starved of possession and the fact that the losers registered only twice from play paints its own disturbing portrait. The tone was set in the first ten minutes when Derry streaked four points clear with scores from Gormley, Enda Lynn (2) and McNicholl. Monaghan were within two points by the 20th minute, 0-5 to 0-3, thanks to three converted frees from Adrian Alford in the 12th, 15th and 18th minutes. But the Monaghan lads also missed a couple of chances and this only encouraged the Foylesiders, who strung together four more points without reply to lead by six at the interval. Monaghan welcomed the short whistle, which sounded with the score standing 0-9 to 0-3 in Derry's favour. If there was to be any way back into the game, Monaghan would have to reshuffle their pack. In fairness to the backroom team, they recognised this and acted accordingly. Gary Boyd was moved from midfield to the edge of the square on the resumption; Paul Lambe went back into defence; and Monaghan Harps' dynamo Neil McAdam was switched to midfield. But Monaghan were feeling the pressure and could not find their rhythm. Composure escaped them and it was hard to watch as passes went astray and heads began to drop. Derry, meanwhile, kept playing with conviction and maintained their superiority with ease. They had extended their lead to a massive nine points within three minutes of the re-start and that was effectively 'Game Over'. Mark Downey from Carrick' raised Monaghan spirits briefly with a 36th-minute free but that score was immediately cancelled out by McNicholl. Clones clubman Alford pointed another free in the 39th minute and there were only eight minutes left on the clock by the time Monaghan found their next score - a 52nd minute free from Alford. By this stage, the Derry stranglehold was total, as they still led by nine points. Substitute Padraig Donaghy blazed a late chance over the bar to close the scoring, but that opportunity apart, Monaghan never looked like getting the three-pointer they desperately craved. Only a goal could have sparked any sort of revival, but this possibility always looked extremely remote. Defeat means that Monaghan have now gone 60 years without an Ulster minor title - a disconcerting statistic if ever there was one. The post-match comments of manager Paddy Bates captured the feeling of despondency in the Monaghan camp: "I'm not disappointing in the players, I'm disappointed for the players. I know they can do an awful lot better than that and they know they can do an awful lot better than that. It just didn't happen for us; nothing went right for us. "Our boys had a few chances that we didn't take early on and then the nerves set in and we started making silly mistakes all over the pitch, which meant that we never got into the game. We never really got into it for any period of time. "It's a big step up from minor league to minor championship, but I do genuinely believe that Monaghan are capable of putting out teams that can compete with anything there is in Ulster. If you have a history of losing, it's very hard to break that, but we'll keep at it." Monaghan had gone into the campaign reasonably hopeful of ending their 60-year provincial MFC famine. Despite the feeling that the Class of 2005 was a gifted crop, recent history at under 18 level meant that there was probably more hope than expectation surrounding the team. As stated at the outset, the Derry game was originally scheduled as a June 5 SFC curtain raiser but was subsequently brought forward a week (to accommodate Monaghan's policy of not playing underage matches during the month of June). Thus, it became opener for the Donegal/Armagh SFC clash at Healy Park, which meant the game was very much out of place. Was any advantage lost there? Preparations had been meticulous and Paddy Bates had at his disposal an array of players who had excelled at colleges level. Lack of experience certainly wouldn't be a factor when one took into consideration that Monaghan boasted players who had just won provincial and All-Ireland honours with Our Lady's, Castleblayney (Cormac Brady, Shane McQuillan, Darren Bishop, Gary Boyd, Kealan Duffy), others who'd tasted MacRory Cup action with St Macartan's College (Ciaran McKenna, Neil McAdam, Neil MacRory, Paddy Lonergan, Shane Smith), as well as a core of players who were in their second year as part of the county minor set-up (Mark Downey, Adrian Alford, Neil McAdam, Neil MacRory). The newly-appointed team management put the players through a stringent series of trials and challenges before settling on a panel for the Ulster minor league. They actually went into this competition undefeated from ten challenge matches and six trial games! In the first round of the Ulster MFL, Monaghan lost to Derry by a point. Shorn of a number of players who were on colleges duty, Monaghan also lost to Cavan before bouncing back with wins over Donegal and Fermanagh. Meanwhile, their championship opponents qualified for the minor league final, which they lost to Tyrone by a couple of points Derry upped the tempo in the championship. Monaghan couldn't. The Monaghan team that competed in the 2005 Ulster minor football championship: Darren Hughes (Scotstown); Kealan Duffy (Castleblayney), Thomas O'Neill (Ballybay), Neil McAdam (Monaghan Harps); Eoin Duffy (Latton, captain), Neil MacRory (Truagh), Gerard O'Callaghan (Currin); Gary Boyd (Cremartin), Seamus Markey (Donaghmoyne); Adrian Alford (Clones, 0-5), Paddy Lonergan (Carrickmacross), Darren Bishop (Cremartin); Stephen Finnegan (Monaghan Harps), Mark Downey (Carrickmacross, 0-1), Paul Lambe (Magheracloone). Subs: Pat Meegan (Inniskeen, 0-1), Cormac Brady (Castleblayney), Cathal Dolan (Carrickmacross), Padraig Donaghy (Carrickmacross, 0-1), Shane Smith (Monaghan Harps). Panel: Gavin Dooley (Inniskeen), Shane McQuillan (Ballybay), Lorcan Duffy (Doohamlet), Tom O'Sullivan (Carrickmacross). Tweet

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