Hurling dominated the weekend of August 14th/15th in Monaghan as the county minors made history by taking the first ever All-Ireland trophy at that level to the county with a totally deserved seven points victory over Mayo in the C championship final. By John Graham. History was made in Carrick-on-Shannon as Monaghan reached another milestone to bring All-Ireland honours to the county for the second time in three years. This was a victory that saw this group of young players complete a great double as they also won the Ulster minor hurling league div. 2 earlier in the season but this was their crowning glory and serves notice that the ancient game is alive and well even if it needs constant sustenance if it is to move on from here. Monaghan qualified for the final with a resounding 2-16 to 4-5 win over Donegal where a towering performance by Gary Boyd in midfield allied to some superb finishing, particularly by Stephen Lambe, brought them a deserved victory in a hugely entertaining and at times dramatic qualifying game in Gavan Duffy Park, Monaghan. Monaghan needed to start well and they did, completely dominating the first quarter at the end of which they led by seven points, 1-5 to 0-1, the goal coming from Michael Lennon in the 12th minute. Donegal fared a little better in the second quarter and by half-time just three points separated the sides, Monaghan 1-7, Donegal 1-4, the Donegal goal coming from full forward Kevin Campbell three minutes into stoppage time. A goal and a point by the home side in the opening minutes of the second half saw Monaghan again seven points in front but that lead was reduced to three as Donegal struck for a goal and a point within the space of a minute. "That was when we knew we could go all the way in this competition," said Mick Hannon. "Our response to that setback was emphatic and we went on to hit seven points without reply between the 15th and 27th minutes to open a 10 points lead. A lot of team might have died then but we didn't, we rallied and got back on top but we had to hold our nerve and the lads showed great maturity. Donegal did pull back a couple of late scores which left us on the sideline nervous but really the overall result was never in any doubt. That put is through to the All -Ireland final where we were awaiting the winners of the Sligo versus Mayo game in Connaught. However for reasons which were never made all that clear to us, that game did not take place and so it was straight through to the final against Mayo who were awarded the match against Sligo." Team and Scorers versus Donegal: Deaglan Connolly, Sean Brennan, Gerard Ruddy, Seamus McLoughlin, Alan Lambe, Patrick Conlon, David Crosbie, Gary Boyd, Brendan Naughton 0-1, Michael Lennon 1-3, Gerard Gilsenan 0-2, Gareth McGrattan, Bernard O'Brien 0-3, Gavin Dooley, Stephen Lambe 0-7. Sub: Noel Morgan for M Lennon. The victory over Mayo came just two years after this group of players had taken the U16 C championship in 2002. Such was the level of proficiency of Monaghan's performance on Saturday August 14th last that it drew warm praise from the Mayo manager Sean Campion. Mayo's hope of having an accomplished team was shattered by the pace, poise, passion and precision of Monaghan's performance," said Campion. This was team work at its best with the midfield and the forwards taking the plaudits in the first half but when the chips were down the defence stood tall in the second period to deny Mayo, as Gerard Ruddy, Seamus McLoughlin, Alan Lambe, Patrick Conlon and David Crosbie erected the "no through road" sign. Gary Boyd and Brendan Naughton were towers of strength in midfield while up front Gerard Gilsenan, Michael Lennon, Bernard O'Brien, Gavin Dooley, Stephen Lambe and Gerard McGrattan all combined to put together a performance that at times during the first half simply blew Mayo away. The result too was a rich reward for the efforts of everyone concerned and not just this group of players but also the effort put in by team manager Michael Hannon, coach Gerry Murphy and selector Michael Byrne. However even in the euphoria following their great win the team management were keeping their contribution low key and instead giving all the credit to the team that had performed such heroics. Selector Michael Byrne was adamant that the seeds for this victory were laid quite a few years back. "When we had that special coaching scheme in Ulster for U12's, these boys all came through that scheme and that shows that if the work is put in early we can compete with the best, said Byrne. On top of that it turned out to be a history making weekend for Gary Boyd as he won an All-Ireland medal on Saturday and then won his first Monaghan senior hurling championship medal the following day. On the day Monaghan were the more balanced and cohesive side and deservedly clinched the All-Ireland minor C championship title for the first time at the expense of Mayo in a very competitive and at times highly exciting final in Carrick-on-Shannon, although as an occasion it did little to promote under age hurling as the arrangements by Croke Park for this game were abysmal. Team manager Mick Hannon felt that Monaghan laid the foundations for victory with a scintillating first half at the end of which they led by nine points. "It was a cushion we needed as Mayo built in momentum in the second half but our defence, which was excellently marshalled by Gerard Ruddy, Seamus McLoughlin and Patrick Conlon in particular stood firm while Gary Boyd and Bernard O'Brien often dropped back to augment their efforts. Mayo actually opened the scoring with a point in the 4th minute and they looked sharp but we began to control things out around the middle with Gary Boyd and Brendan Naughton increasingly calling the shots. Two excellent long range conversions by Bernard O'Brien in the sixth and 8th minutes put us in front and we went on to add a goal and five points without reply to lead by nine points after 20 minutes," added Hannon. "Gerard Gilsenan's goal in the 11th minute was a great boost and Bernard O'Brien followed up with two points in as many minutes to keep up the pressure. We had a goal disallowed for a square infringement but we kept up the offensive and led at half-time by 1-9 to 0-3, which was a good position." Gerry Murphy stressed at half time that the job was only half done and he was right as Mayo showed their intentions right from the start of the second half and had Monaghan under pressure. "They missed a couple of chances but then Bernard O'Brien picked up a clearance and sent in a high centre that was mishandled by the Mayo keeper and Gavin Dooley was on hand to crash to the net that put us eleven points ahead at that stage," said Murphy. "I was delighted for Gavin as he had been very unfortunate against Donegal and has put in a great effort all year. It gave us a great lift as well and we needed the cushion as Mayo came back very strong. It really was backs to the wall stuff from there to the end though and we did not score again until the first minute of injury time as Mayo became increasingly dominant, but our defence was magnificent and denied Mayo goals on a number of occasions. "Mayo continued to attack but we restricted them to just four points and that left seven points between us entering the final five minutes of play. "Those final five minutes were hectic. Mayo, led by Enda Kenny, Michael Cunnane, Rory Campion and Nicky Commins laid siege to our goal but the lads stood firm and when we struck for a point from a free by Stephen Lambe after Noel Morgan was fouled a minute into stoppage I knew we had it won then. It was a memorable victory and a just reward for the lads who had worked so hard all season. I only hope that this team can be kept together and that we can build on this great success. Team and Scorers versus Mayo: Deaglan Connolly, Sean Brennan, Gerard Ruddy, Seamus McLoughlin, Alan Lambe, Patrick Conlon, David Crosbie, Gary Boyd 0-1, Brendan Naughton, Michael Lennon, 0-1, Gerard Gilsenan 1-1, Gareth McGrattan, Bernard O'Brien 0-6, Gavin Dooley 1-0, Stephen Lambe 0-1. Subs: Eoin Greenan for S Brennan, Noel Morgan for G Dooley. Other subs: Eoin McTiernan, PJ Boyle, Niall Cadden, Martin Murphy, Padraig Donnelly, Darren Duffy, James Courtney, Andrew Doohan, Ciaran Reilly, Shane Smyth, Conn O'Hanlon, Patrick Collins and Eoin Duffy. Tweet

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