Though they struck gold by claiming the four-county Ronan Byrne Memorial Cup hosted by the St Patrick's club in the Wee County, Monaghan's minors had a disappointing Ulster minor league campaign and exited the 2006 provincial MFC when losing to defending champions Armagh by a mere point at Clones on Sunday May 14. Ronan Byrne Memorial Shield Monaghan minors captured the Ronan Byrne Memorial Cup when they defeated Louth in the final by 1-13 to 1-7 at Pairc Eamoin in Lordship on May Bank Holiday Monday. It was a morale-boosting victory with the Ulster championship looming just under a fortnight later - but it would be the Oriel County's finest hour at under 18 level in '06. Louth drew first blood but the prolific Mark McDevitt from Scotstown pointed a free for Monaghan in the fifth minute. The Wee County edged in front twice more but McDevitt was on hand to level on both occasions. Incredibly, it was top scorer McDevitt who landed the equalising score twice more before half time, to leave the scores tied at 0-5 apiece at the interval. Monaghan took a two-point lead on the re-start thanks to Martin McElroy from 'Blayney and McDevitt and Louth replied with 1-1 before the visitors drew level again with points from centre back Neil McAdam (45) and McDevitt. Seamus Markey scored a point and Darren Bishop rammed home a goal to make it 1-10 to 1-6. Monaghan saw out the remainder of the match with McDevitt's eighth and ninth points and another from Magheracloone's Paul Lambe as well as an excellent save by Monaghan Harps goalkeeper Emmet McArdle. Monaghan, winners of the 2006 Ronan Byrne Cup: Emmet McArdle; Darren Duffy, Colm Greenan, Conor Galligan; Paul Lambe (0-1), Neil McAdam (0-1), Peter Ward; Seamus Markey (0-1), Gerry Brady; Padraig Donaghy, Darren Bishop (1-0), James Turley; Martin McElroy (0-1), Gerard McArdle, Mark McDevitt (0-9). Ulster minor football league: March 18: Armagh 3-7, Monaghan 1-8 (at Newtownhamilton) March 25: Monaghan 2-11, Down 2-09 (at Castleblayney) April 8: Monaghan 0-7, Meath 2-8 (at Ballybay) April 15: Monaghan 2-6 Cavan 2-8 (at Castleblayney) Ulster minor football championship It was to be another case of heartbreak and what-ifs for the county's minor footballers when they were defeated by the minimum margin, 0-10 to 1-6, in the Ulster championship curtain-raiser at greasy Clones on Sunday 14th May. In a game that was finely balanced for most of the match with the sides level twice in the third quarter, Monaghan were unable to take control and slipped to a frustrating narrow defeat. Yet their battling display restored a great degree of pride to minor football in the county following the previous year's below-par performance against Derry in Omagh. Donaghmoyne clubman Seamus Markey and Inniskeen's Matthew McKenna worked gamely in midfield and the defence excelled in shackling a highly-rated Armagh attack in the second half. Up front, centre forward Darren Bishop from Cremartin was always involved while Mark McDevitt and Martin McElroy were a constant threat. Though things seemed to be getting out of hand when they conceded five unanswered points in the second quarter, Monaghan bounced back manfully in the early stages of the second half with a Martin McElroy goal and a point within a minute to tie the game for the third time. Scores were at a premium in the final quarter and two Armagh players received straight red cards. Monaghan failed to capitalise as the match became scrappy and Armagh poached the winner with the only score of the last quarter - from a free in the final minute of normal time. Armagh looked the more composed side for most of the match and both defences were on top, with the Orchard boys boasting a bit more potency at the business end. The first half got off to a slow start but Armagh gradually took a grip with Stefan Forker at full forward causing problems. Mark McDevitt opened the scoring for Monaghan after three minutes but Armagh were soon on level terms through Sean Clarke. Monaghan enjoyed their best period towards the end of the first quarter, when they led by two points, Martin McElroy and Jerry Brady (Castleblayney) with the lead points for the home side. In the second quarter Armagh took increasing control and five unanswered points between the 17th and 31st minutes left the half-time score: Armagh 0-7, Monaghan 0-4. Within a minute of the restart, Armagh extended their lead with a point from Colm Watters but some five minutes later Monaghan were right back in the game when McElroy crashed to the net to reduce the deficit to the minimum. A minute later it was all up for grabs when Bishop equalised at the end of a good move. An exchange of points between Kyle Carragher and James Turley (Scotstown) kept matters tied up entering the final quarter. There was to be only one further score in this game which took something of a controversial turn in the final quarter with three players dismissed. Two of these were from Armagh - Stefan Forker and Damien McKenna getting straight red cards - while Monaghan also finished the game with fourteen players when Donaghmoyne's Padraig Donaghy was dismissed for a second yellow card a minute from the long whistle. The fact that Armagh were the reigning champions rendered it a difficult task for Monaghan and Armagh's five-point win in the Ulster minor league on March 18th (en route to a final appearance in the secondary competition) demonstrated how much the odds were stacked against the underdogs. With five players who had won Ulster medals the previous year on their starting XV, Armagh were clearly a dangerous proposition. But Monaghan had experience also (albeit of a different variety) as Darren Bishop, Padraig Donaghy, Seamus Markey and Paul Lambe had all seen action in the '05 Ulster MFC. In the 2006 Ulster minor football league, Paddy Bates' side recorded only one victory against Down and suffered defeats at the hands of Armagh, Meath and Cavan. Monaghan went into the May 14 clash in search of a surprise victory that might set them up for a first outright Ulster minor championship success since 1945. Though history was not on their side, they gave a commendable performance and were unlucky not to take something from the game. Monaghan: Emmet McArdle; Conor Galligan, Colm Greenan, Darren Duffy; Paul Lambe, Neil McAdam, Peter Ward; Seamus Markey, Matthew McKenna; James Turley (0-1), Darren Bishop (0-2), Padraig Donaghy; Jerry Brady (0-1), Mark McDevitt (0-1), Martin McElroy (1-1). Sub: Dean Fanning. Tweet

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