Disappointment for county under 21s
December 10, 2004
On paper, Monaghan had a decidedly strong-looking U21 team in 2004. Many predicted that they would go at least one step further than the side unluckily pipped by Tyrone in the '03 provincial final but, alas, things worked out rather differently. To the dismay of all GAA supporters in the county, Monaghan surprisingly came a cropper against Down in the first round of the 2004 Ulster U21 football championship at Clones on Saturday March 13th.
Sometimes the sense of disappointment is so ubiquitous it cannot be masked. When Monaghan crashed out of the 2004 Ulster under 21 football championship, disappointment abounded. It was a sickener for everybody associated with the team and nobody tried to pretend otherwise. What was the point?
This was the team that looked good enough to go all the way. Backboned by seasoned senior campaigners and boasting an embarrassment of riches, potential Ulster-winning material was clear for all to see.
If anything, the team looked stronger on paper than that so cruelly denied by Tyrone in the previous year's provincial decider. Hopes were high.
But that's the problem with high hopes - when things go wrong, they tend to come crashing down in an untidy, calamitous manner.
And so it came to pass that at St Tiernach's Park on Saturday March 13th 2004 Down inflicted a devastating 2-7 to 0-11 defeat upon the much-lauded Monaghan U21s.
Even though Down had won the All-Ireland minor title in 1999, they hadn't won an U21 match in three years and Monaghan went into the game as warm favourites, expected to use the game as a platform from which to launch a major challenge for provincial honours.
But an early goal from Queens University star Eoin McCartan (brother of the legendary James) inside the first three minutes set the Mourne men on their way and Monaghan were unable to fight their way back into contention. Despite the scoring exploits of captain and centre half forward Paul Finlay (0-5), Colm Coyle's charges never settled and their overall performance on the day was well below par.
Two first-half goals fired Down to victory in a game played in difficult conditions. Even though Monaghan outscored their opponents by seven points to two after the interval, the damage done prior to the short whistle proved irreparable.
Down led by 2-5 to 0-4 at the break, leaving Monaghan stunned. The eventual winners were reduced to fourteen men for the last quarter but, try as they may, Monaghan were unable to get back on terms.
After the visitors' opening goal, Monaghan opened their own account through a Damien Larkin free in the tenth minute. Finlay followed up with another free within a minute to reduce the deficit to the minimum. But that was about as good as it got.
Two fine Stephen Gollogly points on the resumption saw Monaghan edge back within five points but their gallant efforts to rescue the day weren't helped when the weather conditions deteriorated further, with heavy rain making handling virtually impossible.
Monaghan had two more points from Finlay but still trailed by five going into the last ten minutes. Down failed to score again and a grandstand Monaghan finish yielded points from Larkin, Finlay and substitute Shane Mulligan. But it was all too late and Down progressed to meet Fermanagh in the next round.
When the final whistle sounded, the feeling of despondency in the Monaghan ranks was palpable. An excellent opportunity had passed. And we all knew it.
Nobody was more disappointed than Magheracloone clubman Fintan Kindlon, who had just seen his last chance of an Ulster underage medal disintegrate before his very eyes. It was Fintan's third year with the county U21s and - like everyone else - he felt that 2004 represented his best chance yet of seizing Ulster glory.
Monaghan had beaten Down through a last gasp Vincent Corey point in the previous year's corresponding fixture and still had eleven of the 2003 team to call upon. The general consensus was that they had been robbed in the '03 Ulster final and there was a determination in the camp to right that wrong.
They had the quality, so where did it all go wrong? Kindlon pauses momentarily before offering his honest assessment of Monaghan's premature exit: "I think we kind of took Down for granted. They're always a tough team to beat at any level but we expected to beat them and had our eye on bigger things. We had a strong team and definitely weren't expecting to lose in the first round.
"This team started together as minors in 2001 and we were beaten by Tyrone in the Ulster final. We were re-grouping as under 21s and expected to have a right go at winning the Ulster championship. We had reached the Ulster final again at U21 level in 2003 and we really and truly thought 2004 was going to be our year."
Unfortunately it all went pear-shaped and the season was finished before it had even started. "We were probably a bit too confident," Fintan concedes. "Colm Coyle, Declan Brennan and Noel Marron took charge of the team again and we all trained together along with the seniors. A lot of our team were playing with the seniors in the McKenna Cup and in the league, but the one drawback was that we never got to play any challenges in the run-up to the championship. The Down game was effectively our first of the year."
While this is hardly ideal preparation for a championship, Fintan is adamant that it should have been sufficient: "I accept that we were a bit rusty as a team but we had all been training on a regular basis and we knew exactly what we were capable of. In the build-up to the Down game, the atmosphere in the camp was really good and we were confident that we could progress to the next stage. Most of us already had plenty of experience of under 21 football and we were in a strong position."
In the end, the two goals were the difference between the teams. Down only scored nine times against Monaghan's eleven scores, but the Oriel County failed to get a three-pointer - a failing that also cost them dearly in last year's SFC. Says Fintan: "They got the goals in the first half and it left us with a mountain to climb. We played a lot better in the second half and outscored them, but couldn't get the goal that would have turned the game on its head. A goal would probably have broken their resistance, but Monaghan always seem to have that problem lately."
Thus, almost five months of training went down the drain. The U21s had been working together since late October, right through to match day (March 14). "We put in a lot of work for those four months, but there wasn't an awful lot of collective training as such, which didn't help. A lot of the lads were at college in Dublin, Sligo and Limerick. They got down for training as often as they could, but it was asking a lot…"
Even months after the Down game Fintan was still deeply disappointed, unable to shake the feeling that this was the one that had got away. "We hadn't lost many from the previous year and we were so close in 2003. We had a strong team on paper, including many lads who went on to play against Armagh in the senior championship.
"Unfortunately we under-performed on the day. We were capable of playing much better. But there's no backdoor system at U21 level and we never got a chance of redeeming ourselves. I still feel that the Ulster title was up for grabs, so it's very frustrating."
Fintan Kindlon was with the Monaghan minor team in 2001 and broke onto the county U21 team the following year under Seamus McEneaney. He is joined on the Magheracloone team by brother Donal at corner back, while sisters Niamh and Fiona (current county senior team physio) are well known for their exploits with the Magheracloone and Monaghan ladies.
Mother Anne and father Maurice are also heavily involved in the local club scene.
Monaghan (2004 Ulster U21 football championship V Down): Paul McElroy; Paraic Keenan, Edmund Lennon, John McMahon; Mark Duffy, James Conlon, Niall Flanagan; Vincent Corey, Francis Markey; Fintan Kindlon, Paul Finlay (0-5), Ted Duffy (0-1); Damien Larkin (0-2), Dessie Mone, Stephen Gollogly (0-2). Subs: Trevor Meehan, Shane Mulligan (0-1), Paul Meegan, Gary McBride, Paudie Finnegan.
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