Monaghan had enjoyed a fine run in the NHL of 2002 and hopes were high that this success could be built on this year. However, in the final outcome it was a case of so near and yet so far. By John Graham. The early stages of the NHL looked promising as Monaghan went through their preliminary round games undefeated but the wheels came off the wagon somewhat as they moved on to the second series of games. Just one point from three matches put them out of the reckoning for divisional league honours. Monaghan had applied to play in the Keogh Cup but lost to Louth in their first outing. However they gained revenge when they had seven points to spare against Louth in their league game back in March. That was just one of four victories in the preliminary section of the league as Monaghan also recorded victories over Tyrone, Cavan and Fermanagh. In the second series of matches Monaghan slumped to a disappointing defeat against Sligo and then drew with Armagh, leaving the game against Mayo as the deciding one in that particular section. The match, in Monaghan on April 27th last was one that Monaghan simply had to win if they were going to retain any interest in the latter stages of division three. On the day though it just simply did not happen for Monaghan as a superior Mayo side outplayed them in practically every position and a winning margin of 14 points for the visitors did not at all flatter their superiority. "We knew we had a tough job on against Sligo, they were a strong team, they beat Mayo and we knew the trouble Mayo gave us last year so we gave them the utmost respect," recalls senior manager John Andrews when asked to review the opening game in the second series of the NHL. "I thought Monaghan had improved from last year and the return of Robbie Healy was a boost and I thought we were going into the game with no injury worries, but that was not how it panned out and our unbeaten run came to an abrupt end in Sligo. Injuries and absenteeism left us fielding less than a full strength side and while that does not go all the way to explaining our below par performance the changes we had to make did affect us. "John McConnell was ruled out with an injury that he picked up in a club football game on Saturday evening and Arthur Hughes was also carrying an injury and had to be replaced early in the game. The first half hour wasn't bad and we were just three points down after half an hour but then disaster hit as we conceded two goals just before the break and quite honestly it was all over at that stage." "I was bitterly disappointed, in fact I remember feeling gutted, it was the worst we played since I came to Monaghan, we never really got into the game atall, the boys simply had an off day with the exception of a couple of players like Pat Walsh, Kris McEntte, particularly when we moved him back to defence and Jim McHugh it really went very badly. We suffered a couple of blows even before the start of the game, John McConnell was ruled out with a broken jaw that he picked up in a football league game with his club on Saturday evening and Arthur Hughes also carrying an injury from that same game but I have to say quite strongly again that I don't think players should have to play a senior football match the night before an important national hurling league game, but that's something we have to address. The county footballers would not be asked to do it and the hurlers should not be asked either." But the disappointment didn't end there and it all came down to the last game against Mayo. Following the disappointment of the defeat against Sligo Armagh were next up but again it ended badly, not in defeat but in only taking a point form a game that Monaghan looked to have won even going into injury time. "A win would have put us in the division three final but on the day we had to settle for a share of the spoils which was a bit of a setback when we let Armagh come with a late rally to plunder a point Our performance was a big improvement on the Sligo game although the state of the Keady pitch didn't help. We went four up but Armagh pegged it back to three just on the half-time whistle but they were back on the offensive in the second half and it wasn't until quite late that we got back on top. We missed a couple of good chances but the breakthrough came in the 31st minute when John McAnespie found the Armagh net to put Monaghan four in front and as the game drifted into stoppage time it appeared as if that margin might be enough, but we conceded late scores to drop a point. We had the game won and we would have been straight through to the final but we then knew we had to beat Mayo. We were four points up with 38 minutes played in the second half and came out of it with a draw which was disappointing. We showed a vast improvement on our performance against Sligo and if we had kept that up we could have done better against Mayo. "Going into the Mayo game we faced probably our toughest task, it was a game that we had to win if we were to qualify for the final. We played them three times last year and Mayo had two wins and one game was drawn so we knew it wasn't going to be easy but it was in our own hands. We just simply had to beat them and the way we looked at it was that we had some unfinished business with them from last year, they were the only team that beat us in the league so we felt that we owed them one". That wasn't how it worked out though as a sharper Mayo qualified for the final of Division 3 of the Allianz NHL with a comfortable win over Monaghan in Gavan Duffy Park and a result that saw Monaghan's campaign finish on a disappointing note. "On the day though we could have no complaints about the result as Mayo were the superior side in all aspects of their play," admits Andrews. "Their first touch was superior, they were so much quicker in using the ball and their superior stick work, particularly in blocking tactics, repeatedly frustrated us. We contested to the end but always against superior forces. At the half-way stage it looked like being a close enough contest but in the second half Mayo stepped up their game and ran up a series of scores that had pushed the game beyond us well before the end." It was essentially a game of two contrasting halves as far as Monaghan were concerned but ultimately the difference between the sides was that Mayo capitalised that much better on the chances that came their way in the second half while Monaghan just couldn't penetrate the Mayo defence effectively. John Andrews, was offering no excuses. "The better team won, it was a setback and was very disappointing and in hindsight not the best preparation for the Ulster championship." Donegal put victories back to back over Monaghan but the game was in marked contrast to the dour bad tempered affair in Ballybay the previous year. Apart from a short period in the opening ten minutes when Monaghan held the lead after a somewhat fortunate goal in the sixth minute by John McAnespie, they were playing second fiddle to a very well drilled Donegal who frustrated their attempts at creating scoring chances and also kept the Monaghan defence under periods of increasing pressure that saw them gradually push the issue beyond the reach of the visitors. Ronan McLaughlin proved executioner in chief with a hat trick of goals, two in the first half and one right at the end to underline Donegal's superiority on the day. Two of those goals and a point came in the space of three minutes following Monaghan's sixth minute goal to not only restore the home side to the lead but to put them firmly in the driving seat and after that they never really looked back. Donegal were superior to Monaghan in most aspects of the game, their stick work was superb and their ground hurling saw them repeatedly use first time tactics to clear danger or thwart Monaghan's efforts to create chances. Donegal led at half-time by 2-10 to 1-6 with Michael McHugh coming to Monaghan's rescue on a couple of occasions as well. In the second half Donegal continued to force the pace and their ability to respond any time that Monaghan threatened saw them keep the score board at double figures. In the second half Donegal extended their half time advantage to nine points within five minutes of the restart with points by Michael McCann and Andrew Wallace. The standard of play was not as fast and furious as in the first half but Donegal held a double scores lead in the fifth minute, again on 20 minutes and on 33 minutes when twelve points separated the sides. Monaghan did contrive a number of openings but could not penetrate a well organised Donegal defence and a minute into stoppage time Ronan McLaughlin completed his hat-trick of goals to put Donegal 14 points in front. Monaghan pulled back a late consolation goal from substitute Paraic Dowdall, but in the end they were a well beaten side. It finished Donegal 3-18, Monaghan 2-10. "We had a poor run, one point out of a possible six in the league and exit from the championship in the space of a few weeks but there was very little to say, we had a bad day at the office, very little went right but we have to be honest and say it, we were beaten by the better team. We didn't hurl well, there was nothing wrong on the day, we just didn't play well and they did. We scored 2-10 and lost and we have often scored less and won matches but their forwards were making and taking scores that much better than us. They were the better team." So a disappointing end to the season that had promised so much, a good start but Monaghan had faded and in their last three games did not play well. John Andrews couldn't really explain it. "I can't explain what went wrong, but we just seemed to lose our momentum over the final month and that showed very much against Donegal whose execution of the basic skills was much better and their ground hurling really stood to them, all credit to them. I was talking to their manager after the game and he told me that they had forsaken the league for championship preparations, trying out young players and they were well prepared." All that remained then for Monaghan and John Andrews was the Ulster under 21 championship. "We had the under 21's to look forward to after Donegal and we had a good squad of players eligible this year with quite a few of who were in action last year. We took a couple of weeks off and then started to try and win the U21 Shield as I really felt that we were done out of it last year." This was one competition where Monaghan were confident of doing well, they had reached the final in 2002 where they were defeated by Cavan and this year they were back in the final again following two convincing victories over Fermanagh and Donegal, to reach the final against Armagh. The games were all played as curtain raisers to All Ireland football championship qualifier matches in Clones and everyone involved with hurling welcomed this initiative as they saw it as an ideal opportunity to put hurling onto the bigger stage. The players responded with excellent performances and booked their place in the final against Armagh but as in the previous years Monaghan were caught with a late rally after having failed to push home their earlier advantage with vital scores. Monaghan led at half time by 1-6 to 1-2, Michael Lennon with the goal and another goal by Gary Boyd ten minutes into the second half put Monaghan five clear again. "We should have pushed it home at that stage but we didn't score again and Armagh pipped us at the post. Last year we dominated the final for almost the full sixty minutes and didn't win. This year we were five points up going into the last ten minutes and lost by five and disappointment doesn't begin to describe how myself, the players and the selectors, in fact everybody involved with the team felt." So a disappointing end to a year that had promised so much, but is it all doom and gloom? Definitely not according to John Andrews who has given a commitment to remaining for another year. "I was disappointed but the future for Monaghan hurling is bright, we have a number of talented young players coming through and you have to be impressed with the level of ability in these young players, their stick work is very good and alot of these lads are still of minor age. Bernard O'Brien is a great prospect and I think Gary Boyd is such a talent, he has to be nurtured but there are a great number of young lads like Alan Lambe, Michael Lennon, Shane Treanor, Karl Conlon, Steven Lambe, Ronan Meegan and that's only a few of them and they are only kids really. They need to be worked with and developed. There is a breakthrough coming in Monaghan, I know that and these young players will make a breakthrough in a couple of years. "The under 21 series proved that there is talent coming through but the players must be given the time and space as well as the respect so that they can realise their full potential and keeping that in perspective is the biggest task facing Monaghan. I feel we have made progress from when I came in, we are now further up the scale but there is still unfinished work, we haven't won anything and we need to win something but I think that will come." Monaghan's Results: Keogh Cup: Monaghan 1-5, Louth 1-9 NHL: Monaghan 2-9, Tyrone 1-10 Monaghan 0-7, Cavan 0-5 Monaghan 3-12, Fermanagh 2-4 Monaghan 2-12, Louth 1-8 NHL 2nd Series: Monaghan 0-6, Sligo 2-10 Monaghan 2-9, Armagh 3-6 Monaghan 0-4, Mayo 1-14. Ulster JHC: Monaghan 2-10, Donegal 3-18. Ulster U21 HC Monaghan 4-11, Fermanagh 0-9 Monaghan 4-9, Donegal 1-8 Monaghan 2-6, Armagh 2-11 (Final). The Monaghan team that faced Donegal in the championship was: . Michael McHugh, Seamus Loftus, Jim McHugh, Ed Hearne, Paul Murphy, David Connolly, Adrian Dalton, Arthur Hughes, Barry Connolly, Robbie Healy 0-3, Kieran Connolly 0-1, Shane O`Sullivan 0-1, Barry Reilly, Pat Walshe 0-5, John McAnespie 1-0. Subs: Paraic Dowdall 1-0 for J McAnespie, Kris McEntee for E Hearne, Gabriel McQuillan for B Connolly. Referee: M Mulholland (Derry). Tweet

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