McElroy's fairytale year
December 10, 2005
2005 proved to be a fairytale year for Latton's Hugh McElroy who, after marrying local girl Edel Cassidy in February, went on to win major honours with both club and county, and also had the distinction of being Monaghan's top scorer in the championship.
What a year for Hugh McElroy! Following his marriage to local girl Edel Cassidy in the spring, he emerged as a key figure for both Latton and Monaghan in their successful seasons, and was the Farney County's top scorer in the championship with a whopping tally of 3-17.
"It was an unbelievable year, I still can't quite believe what happened," the big full forward says.
"Married life seems to suit me because I've been incredibly lucky since the wedding in February. I scored a point after coming on in the league final victory over Meath and scored 1-8 on my championship debut against London at Clones. I ended up being Monaghan's top scorer in the championship and the year was capped off by Latton's first county championship success in 75 years."
Due to his wedding and honeymoon in South Africa, Hugh missed Monaghan's first three outings in the National League and had to bide his time before breaking into the starting line-up.
"I had a good bit of catching up to do after missing the first few league matches and I had to be patient," he recalls.
"I was determined to make it because I hadn't been able to give the full commitment before this year and at 27, I knew this might be my last chance to make it. So I put in a big effort after returning from my honeymoon and my persistence eventually paid off when the championship came around."
Monaghan got the perfect boost going into the championship when they recorded a sensational victory over Meath in the National League Division 2 final at Croke Park. A bizarre injury-time goal from a Paul Finlay free gave Seamus McEnaney's men a one-point victory and sparked incredible scenes as thousands of Monaghan supporters stormed onto the pitch to celebrate the county's first national title in 20 years.
The Farney County had the better of the first half but only led by a point at the break, despite a brace of wonderful Thomas Freeman goals. Within minutes of the restart, substitute Ollie Murphy netted to put Meath back in front and when Trevor Giles followed up with a free, the Royals were 3-8 to 2-7 to the good.
However, Monaghan stuck to their task and regained parity with unanswered points from Dick Clerkin, Paul Finlay, Nicholas Corrigan and Declan McKernan. Meath looked to have done enough when Daithi Regan and substitutes Mark Ward and Brian Farrell responded with points but, after McElroy had reduced the gap, Finlay dropped a 35 metre free into the goalmouth and the ball ended up in the net after Meath's Mark Ward punched the ball into his own goal.
"It was a bad goal for Meath to concede, but these things happen in football and we were delighted to take it. The supporters went crazy and I suppose you couldn't blame them after all the barren years Monaghan have had. To win a big game in Croke Park in such dramatic circumstances is something I'll never forget."
Monaghan were brought crashing down to earth a few weeks later when Derry exacted revenge for their National League semi-final defeat with a 1-17 to 2-8 victory. McElroy, who scored one of the Monaghan goals after coming on as a replacement for Damien Freeman, was duly handed his first championship start against London in the All-Ireland qualifiers and celebrated it by scoring 1-8 in a wonderful man of the match display.
Unsurprisingly, the Latton man retained his place for the games which followed against Wexford, Louth and Tyrone, and finished the championship as Monaghan's leading scorer. He was the seventh highest scorer in the championship overall, finishing behind the likes of Stephen O'Neill (Tyrone), Colm Cooper (Kerry), Steven McDonnell (Armagh) and Paddy Bradley (Derry).
"It was probably our best run in the championship since Monaghan last won the Ulster title in 1988. We recovered very well from the defeat to Derry to beat London, Wexford and Louth before losing to the eventual All-Ireland champions.
"London was a good draw for us to get in the first round of the qualifiers and we were delighted with the win over Wexford who were a big step-up in class. Colm Flanagan had a fantastic game that day, keeping Matty Forde scoreless.
"We were well in control against Louth for most of the game, but took our foot off the pedal in the closing stages and allowed them to get within a point of us. We were 1-5 to 0-2 up at one stage against Tyrone in Croke Park, but things started to go wrong for us after Stephen O'Neill scored their goal. But there was no shame in losing to Tyrone who proved themselves to be the best team in the country after that."
The local county championship brought further glory for McElroy as Latton swept to their first senior success in 75 years. Latton won the Mick Duffy Cup the hard way, beating recent winners such as Castleblayney and Clontibret before overcoming the holders Magheracloone by 0-14 to 0-10 in the final at Clones.
"Winning the senior championship was a big breakthrough for Latton and made all the effort worthwhile," he says.
"We had been there or thereabouts over the past few years. We won the last two senior leagues as well as an Ulster Sevens title a couple of years ago. We lost the county final to Castleblayney two years ago, but this year's victory more than made up for that disappointment.
"No-one can say that we didn't deserve it because we beat all the top teams, including the reigning champions Magheracloone who were beat twice. I was especially pleased for our manager Gerry Connolly who put in a huge effort all year, and for my brother-in-law Kevin Hughes who had waited 20 years to win his first senior championship medal with the club."
Latton, who called on a number of Ballybay players when they last won the senior championship in 1930, staged a magnificent second half performance to dethrone Magheracloone in this year's decider. The Freeman brothers, Damien and Tom, gave the South Monaghan side an early advantage as Latton struggled to convert possession into scores.
The champions led 0-8 to 0-6 at the interval with goalkeeper Shane Duffy converting a '45' two minutes into stoppage time after Bernard O'Brien had reduced their lead to the minimum. The sides were level by the midway stage of the second half before Latton hit four points without reply in a blistering final seven minutes.
The champions were then awarded a penalty, but Duffy's shot rocketed off the crossbar for a point and Latton had the final say when Eoin Duffy landed the insurance point two minutes into injury-time.
Hugh, whose brother Brian was one of the Latton substitutes on the day, is very appreciative of the support he received throughout the year from his wife Edel and his father Bernard. "Without them, none of this would have happened for me," he claims.
McElroy works as a production manager with IJM (Irish Joinery Monaghan) Timber Frame at the company's facility in Armagh. IJM's headquarters are located on the Old Armagh Road, Monaghan and has a third facility in Kilkenny. The company is owned by Sean McCaughey and employs over 200.
IJM is the oldest timber frame company in Ireland and this year celebrated 40 years in business. In that time, thousands of satisfied customers have benefited from IJM Timber Frame building solutions in terms of economic construction, design flexibility and quality.
The timber used in the timber frame structural shell comes from managed forests. As part of the company's overall quality philosophy, all structural timber is subjected to a rigorous mechanical stress graded to BS 5268 to verify the integrity of each part of the structural timbers for all new IJM homes. IJM is one of Europe's leading timber frame manufacturers, with exports to Germany, France, the UK and Saudi Arabia.
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