Banty McEneaney's Monaghan U21 footballers reached the finals of both the Shamrock Cup and the Ulster championship in 2007, but were beaten by Tyrone and Armagh respectively. Overall, this crop gave exceptional value over the course of their four-month season and certainly provided Monaghan football with a great boost. As they hadn't won a championship match at U21 level in four years, Monaghan's run to the 2007 Ulster U21 FC decider was a welcome fillip. The team performed with panache and skill during their rich victories over Cavan and Fermanagh but never quite got into their stride in the decider against Armagh. They were still well in touch with just a few minutes left but it was the Orchard boys who finished strongest. As they had also lost the Shamrock Cup final right at the death, the players were left cursing their luck. They deserved some silverware for a tremendous effort - but it wasn't to be. Two finals; no cigar. Monaghan came up against a physically imposing Armagh side in the 2007 Ulster U21 FC final at Omagh's Healy Park on Saturday April 14 and went under by seven points, 1-16 to 1-9. The Orchard County finished powerfully to extinguish Monaghan's hopes, ending their dream run and consigning the U21s to a second final defeat of the year. The winners registered a goal and three points without reply in the final minutes of normal time plus three minutes of stoppage time to put something of a misleading reflection on the final scoreboard. There was only a single point between the neighbouring counties with three minutes of normal time remaining. But Johnny Hanratty's 57th-minute goal effectively sealed Monaghan's fate. All in all, despite the bitter blow of provincial final defeat, it was an outstanding year for the Oriel County U21s, who recorded a first championship win at this level in four years with first-round victory over Cavan, confidently added the scalp of Fermanagh and also enjoyed a great run to the Shamrock Cup final (eventually coming unstuck against Tyrone after extra time). The players and management can look back with pride. In the Ulster final, Monaghan who got off to a dream start with a goal from Shane Smyth after just five minutes. That score put the underdogs five points in front and the same margin still separated the sides entering the second quarter. However, Armagh finished the half strongly with three unanswered points between the 17th and 26th minutes to reduce the interval deficit to two: Monaghan 1-4, Armagh 0-5. Monaghan extended their lead with one of five Ciaran Hanratty points four minutes after the resumption but, ominously, Armagh were beginning to gain an increasing foothold in the match, with some impressive presence at midfield and in attack. The gap was down to the minimum by the start of the final quarter and the winners drew level for the first time since the throw-in in the 46th minute with a Stefan Forker pointed free. Within a minute, the Maghery marksman put Armagh in front for the first time and, while Monaghan pulled back to level terms shortly afterwards, Armagh were now calling the shots at a decisive juncture in the game. A brace of points from substitute David McKenna and Charlie Vernon put Armagh two points in front entering the final ten minutes and the Orchard never looked back as Monaghan's gallant provincial championship bid finally ran out of steam on the home straight. The final scoreline represented a great injustice to a Monaghan side that was in the game throughout, asking serious questions of the eventual champions. Though some of the players who had been instrumental in bringing this team so far failed to produce their best football on the day, Monaghan still led for three-quarters of the match and were not too far off a historic Ulster breakthrough. Prior to the start of the competition this would probably have been regarded as an unlikely final pairing but both teams advanced to the penultimate stage on merit in an unpredictable competition. Monaghan had defeated a highly-fancied Cavan in the quarter-final and then racked up a comprehensive victory over a Fermanagh side that had caused a big shock by defeating Down in the opening round. Armagh, meanwhile, also raised eyebrows, particularly in their defeat of a highly-fancied Derry in their semi-final, having accounted for Tyrone earlier. They had shown in both those games that they were a powerful and disciplined proposition. Monaghan reached the final on the back of sterling displays from Darren and Ciaran Hughes in the full back line as well as James Ward at centre half back and midfield pair Benny McKenna and Owen Greenan. With the likes of Ciaran Hanratty, Bernard O'Brien, Shane Smyth and Eoin Duffy up front, they looked capable of winning the Ulster U21 football championship for the first time since 1999 (when the final was also played in Omagh). Monaghan, 2007 Ulster U21 FC finalists: Padraig McBennett; Ciaran Hughes, Darren Hughes, Darragh Mooney; Mark McNally, James Ward, Conor McManus (0-2); Brendan McKenna, Owen Greenan; Nicholas Treanor, Shane Smyth (0-1), Martin McElroy; Eoin Duffy, Ciaran Hanratty (0-5), Bernard O'Brien. Subs: Darren Bishop for N Treanor, Rodney Gorman (0-1) for D Mooney, John Kingham (0-1) for D Hughes, Matthew McKenna for M McElroy. Monaghan qualified for the final with a comprehensive 2-8 to 0-4 victory over Fermanagh at Lisnaskea's Emmet Park on Saturday afternoon 31st March. Fermanagh came into the game on the back of a much heralded victory over Down in the quarter-final but on the day they were never allowed to replicate that form and ended up playing second fiddle to Monaghan in most sectors. The winners got off to the perfect start when Eoin Duffy blasted to the net with less than a minute on the clock, following good work by Nicholas Treanor and Bernard O'Brien. Fermanagh were visibly rocked by this setback and Monaghan added quick points from Shane Smith and O'Brien, the latter well placed from a quick free by Eoin Duffy. Fermanagh opened their account with a point by Barry Connolly in the 14th minute but that was to be their only score of the first half as Monaghan increased their stranglehold on proceedings to register three points without reply, all from Ciaran Hanratty, two from frees, to leave the half time score about as commanding as any team could wish for in a provincial semi-final: Monaghan 1-5, Fermanagh 0-1. Fermanagh enjoyed their best period of the game in the opening six minutes of the second half when they pulled back a brace of points but Monaghan continued to win the bulk of possession out around the middle and kept a good supply of ball going inside, where Ciaran Hanratty demonstrated his pace to good effect to keep the Fermanagh defence on edge for the hour. Rodney Gorman was fouled in the 12th minute with Hanratty slotting over the free and a minute later the same player raced in on the Fermanagh goal to fist over and restore the seven-point cushion. The second goal that had been threatening ominously arrived in the 21st minute when substitute Rodney Gorman made no mistake from close range to put Monaghan ten points in front. Eoin Duffy lofted over from out on the wing a minute later for an eleven-point lead and, while Monaghan were not to score again, they were able to stifle a late flurry from Fermanagh, limiting them to just a single point five minutes from the end of normal time. Semi-final team and scorers: Padraig McBennett; Ciaran Hughes, Darren Hughes, Darragh Mooney; Mark McNally, James Ward, Conor McManus; Brendan McKenna, Eoin Greenan; Nicholas Treanor, Bernard O'Brien (0-1), Martin McElroy; Ciaran Hanratty (0-5), Eoin Duffy (1-1), Shane Smith 0-1. Subs: Rodney Gorman (1-0) for S Smith, Darren Bishop for C Hanratty, Daithi McKeown for D Hughes, Cormac Brady for C McManus, Matthew McKenna for E Duffy. In their quarter-final against Cavan on St Patrick's Day. Monaghan ended a four-year barren period without a championship victory at U21 level by deservedly getting the better of a fancied Cavan side at Clones. This game was in the balance during the first half but Monaghan eased up through the gears after the resumption to record an impressive 1-12 to 0-7 win over their stunned neighbours. Key to Monaghan's change of fortune was the introduction of substitutes Martin McElroy and Darren Bishop, in conjunction with the shifting of Conor McManus back to defence. Those changes, allied to the dominance of Benny McKenna at midfield, were the crucial factors in the turnaround. Two early second-half points instigated Monaghan's resurgence but it was when Conor McManus came through as the extra man to crash the ball home in the ninth minute that Monaghan were on the way. Cavan never recovered from that setback and recorded just three second-half points. The sides were level three times during a very low key first half with the lead changing hands twice in that period. Conditions on the day definitely affected the standard of play and the heavy pitch also took its toll. The sides were level at 0-4 each at the break, Shane Smyth levelling in injury time after Martin Reilly had given Cavan the lead in the 26th minute. Monaghan might well have had a couple more goals in the second period but for some excellent work by Cavan keeper Simon Delaney. Substitute McElroy started the surge with a point in the 34th minute to restore Monaghan's lead - a lead they would not subsequently surrender. Bernard O'Brien added another three minutes later and then McManus struck for the only goal of the game after excellent work by Martin McElroy, to hand marauding Monaghan a five-point advantage. Monaghan rattled over further points from Bishop, Eoin Duffy, Ciaran Hanratty and Bernard O'Brien and Cavan finished the game with 14 players when Ronan Flanagan was red-carded in injury time. It was a tremendous victory as a lot was expected from a Cavan side containing most of the players who had taken eventual All-Ireland minor champions Down to three games in 2005's MFC. But Monaghan went into the match with a number of players making progress with the county at senior level. Darren Hughes, Shane Smyth, Conor McManus, Brendan McKenna, Padraig McBennett, Ciaran Hughes, Eoin Duffy and Ciaran Hanratty had all been showing well in both the Dr McKenna Cup and the national football league, while Maghercloone's James Ward and Bernard O'Brien also had senior intercounty experience. The Cavan game was originally due to take place on Saturday March 24th but due to changes in national football league schedules for that weekend it was brought forward by a week to the national holiday. First round victors over Cavan: Padraig McBennett; Ciaran Hughes, Darren Hughes, Cormac Brady; Mark McNally, James Ward, Darragh Mooney; Eoin Greenan, Brendan McKenna; Eoin Duffy (0-2), Bernard O'Brien (0-3), Matthew McKenna: Ciaran Hanratty (0-2), Shane Smyth (0-2), Conor Mc Manus (1-1). Subs: Martin McElroy (0-1) for M McKenna, Darren Bishop (0-1) for C Brady, Nicholas Treanor for B O'Brien, Rodney Gorman for D Mooney. In the build-up to the championship, Monaghan enjoyed a superb run in the Shamrock Cup, organised by the Cremartin club. They made it to the final but were unluckily edged out by Tyrone at Cremartin on Sunday February 18: 2-15 to 2-13 A.E.T. Two nights earlier, Monaghan had booked their place in the final with an eight-point victory over the same opposition at Cloghan. Ironically, in the previous round, Monaghan had got their Shamrock Cup hopes back on track with a six-point defeat of none other than Armagh in a high-scoring encounter at Corduff on Saturday February 3rd, 2-16 to 2-10. They had opened their account with a 3-15 to 1-13 defeat to a slicker, more clinical Down at Corduff on Saturday January 27th. Monaghan were extremely unfortunate to lose the final to Tyrone as the O'Neill County score that forced extra time came two minutes into stoppage time. They also lost Shane Smyth and Eoin Duffy through injury, while injured centre half back James Ward was unavailable. With a bit more luck, Monaghan's U21s could have been celebrating a famous double in 2007. Shamrock Cup final team and scorers: Padraig McBennett; Ciaran Hughes, Darren Hughes (0-1), Cormac Brady; Nicholas Treanor (0-5), Eoin Duffy, Michael Lennon; Eoin Greenan, Matthew McKenna; Paddy Lonergan (0-1), Shane Smyth, Aidan Ward; Ciaran Hanratty (1-3), Benny McKenna (1-1), Marty McElroy (0-2). Subs: Conor McManus for E Duffy, Niall McCooey, for P Lonergan, Rodney Gorman for S Smyth, Gavan Flanagan for N McCooey, D McKenna for G Flanagan. Tweet

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