Monaghan's minors fell at the first hurdle in 2003, but their Ulster MFC defeat at the hands of Armagh was decidedly unfortunate. Seamus Meehan's 2003 Monaghan minor football team had every reason to be feeling sorry for themselves in the wake of their championship exit against Armagh at Clones in May. Any chance they had of bringing the Ulster MFC back to the Oriel County for the first time since 1945 was ruined when the under 18s ran out of luck just when it mattered most. Monaghan faced their neighbours from the Orchard County in the first round of the provincial MFC at St Tiarnach's Park on Sunday May 11th. It was the curtain raiser to Colm Coyle's team's famous scalping of the defending Ulster and All-Ireland champions, but the county minors had no such joy when two injury-time points agonisingly consigned them to a heartbreaking one-point defeat, 0-13 to 1-9. The most disappointing thing was that realistically they should have been out of sight by then. Seamus Meehan's side were slow out of the blocks and trailed by three points early on, but a goal from Rockcorry lad Paul McKeown roused them from their slumber and they subsequently led by 1-5 to 0-5 at the interval. Monaghan dominated much of the game's remainder but, despite creating an array of decent scoring chances, couldn't quite shake off Armagh's stubborn challenge. Still, they led by the minimum margin as full time elapsed. But victory was snatched from their grasp when Armagh sent over an equaliser in stoppage time before adding a winner right at the death. It was tough luck on Monaghan, who had looked likely winners for virtually the entire hour. And who knows how far this time might have gone had they negotiated that first hurdle? Armagh - managed by former county star Ger Houlahan - went into the game as Ulster minor league champions, having accounted for Fermanagh in the final ... their first time in ten years to reach the decider! It had been a similar length of time since they'd managed to win a game in the championship. Monaghan, meanwhile, had mixed fortunes in the league competition, losing twice - to Derry and Fermanagh. However, Seamus Meehan and his selectors weren't particularly despondent over the outcome there as they had used the secondary competition merely for team-building purposes. Their stated stratagem was to annex the provincial minor crown for the first time in 58 years (the Farney men had reached the final in 2001 only to be denied therein by Tyrone). In the league, Monaghan recovered from their opening-round defeat to Derry (1-12 to 1-6 at Ballinascreen on March 22nd) by recording impressive back-to-back victories over Donegal and Cavan. Donegal were beaten by 1-10 to 0-7 at Clones on Saturday March 29th, with Paul McKeown's three-pointer at the three-quarters stage providing the platform for success. Big Emyvale midfielder Brendan McKenna also fired over a couple of spectacular points. Two weeks later, Monaghan proved too strong for the Breffni boys in Cavan. Again, they had six points to spare: 1-16 to 1-10. After leading by 0-12 at the interval, they had to withstand a spirited second-half fightback but a goal from Clones hitman William Gillard steadied the ship and they held out for a morale-boosting win. Subsequently, Monaghan needed to beat Fermanagh in their final game to have any chance of forcing a play-off. Defeat left Seamus Meehan free to concentrate on the championship and the Monaghan boss approached the premier competition in confident mood. In the build-up to the Armagh game, Meehan admitted he hadn't been trying to change the world during the Ulster minor league: "We certainly didn't set out to win it - if we had, that would've been a bonus. Our plan was to give everyone a run and take the best team from that for the championship. That's what we set out to do and I'm quite happy that we achieved that." The county minor boss also insisted that the standard of minor football in Monaghan was as good as in any other county: "The standard of minor football in Monaghan is high. We have the Ulster club champions here [Clontibret] and I've been watching minor club football in the county over the years and I'm always impressed. "But confidence is a big factor at minor level and I think sometimes there's a bit of an inferiority complex. If we can get rid of that, then we can go a long way." However, the manager had cause for concern leading up to the Armagh clash as, even though he had a full complement at his disposal, a number of his players carried injuries into their biggest game of the year. Captain Paul McGuigan from Clontibret was nursing a groin strain, while William Gilliard had a troublesome hamstring. James Ward was also on the treatment table. For the campaign, management called upon players from every nook and cranny of the county - Clontibret, Monaghan Harps, Carrick-macross, Emyvale, Rockcorry, Latton, Truagh, Clones, Magheracloone, Blackhill, Currin, Castleblayney, Drum-howan, Scotstown, Ahabog, Donagh-moyne, Sean McDermotts - a grand total of 17 clubs. (Go on, count them, knew you couldn't resist...) At St Tiarnach's, Monaghan seemed to have earned a draw at the very least until Armagh substitute Christopher O'Connor intervened with the winning point two minutes into injury time to send his team through to a quarter-final meeting with Down. A minute earlier, Michael O'Rourke had drawn the Orchard level after full time elapsed with Monaghan ahead. Those late scores were a bitter blow to Monaghan, who had the lion's share of possession but failed to put their superiority on the scoreboard during their dominant phases. When Armagh looked totally out of it in the second half, their neighbours generously let them off the hook with a series of missed chances. And when the opportunity to pounce presented itself late on, Armagh seized it with both hands. Monaghan eased three points clear as the match ebbed into its final quarter but their forwards weren't converting possession adequately and the fact that only three Oriel County players scored over the hour tells its own tale. Monaghan were jittery during the opening exchanges and Armagh took full advantage by compiling a three-point cushion inside ten minutes. Full forward Sean Downey supplied Monaghan's first score in the 11th minute and when Paul McKeown fired to the net four minutes later Seamus Meehan's charges took a lead that they'd hold right through until injury time. After the goal, Monaghan shook off their early lethargy and found their rhythm, chalking up a number of impressive scores. Bernard O'Brien helped himself to a brace which gave his team a three-point lead. But Armagh pulled one back before the lively McKeown swapped points with dangerman Peadar Toal. Downey had the last say of the opening moiety and Monaghan retired to a reasonably content dressing room at the hiatus, nursing a 1-5 to 0-5 advantage. The losers sustained the momentum on the resumption but their accuracy deserted them and they spurned a variety of presentable opportunities, both from frees and open play. Even though Armagh were feeding off scraps, they were more economical and reduced the arrears to the minimum within five minutes of the restart. It would have been even worse but for a superb save from the dependable Ronan McDermott in the Monaghan goal. O'Brien showed the way with points in the ninth and twelfth minutes to again put his team three clear, but critically Monaghan only managed two other scores in the second half-hour - points from Downey and O'Brien - and manager Meehan could only look on in horror at the devastating denouement. Early May and already it was time to start planning for 2004... The Monaghan side that faced Armagh in the 2003 Ulster MFC at Clones on May 5th: Ronan McDermott; Michael Woods, Barry Cuddy, Owen Duffy; Sean Baylon, Ronan Garvey, Daithi McKeown; Brendan McKenna, Karl Conlon; William Gilliard, Paul McGuigan, Paul McKeown (1-1); Bernard O'Brien (0-5), Sean Downey (0-3), James Connolly. Subs: James Treanor, James Ward Tweet

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