Monaghan dominate Ulster
December 31, 2007
The Irish News Ulster All Star Awards scheme has been running for some thirteen years now. In that time it has grown in popularity and prestige in that and honours players from the province who have shown excellence on the field during the year. For 2007 Monaghan were always going to figure prominently given that they had reached the final of the Ulster senior championship and the semi-final of the national league Division 2. Not to mention an epic All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Kerry. By JP Graham.
In doing so they had played some of the most exciting football seen in the province for some time with a string of top class personal performances that were harnessed to an overall team plan. The mixture worked as Down, Derry and even Tyrone will testify while Kerry, however begrudgingly, also had to acknowledge the excellent form that Monaghan had shown.
The night of Thursday September 6th was eagerly awaited with voting through the ballot papers in the Irish News in the days before the event building to a great climax and creating a great atmosphere of expectation as to who the honoured 15 would be and who would get the Top Player Award, the footballer of the year, a very coveted prize.
On the night expectations were vindicated as Monaghan swept the boards at the Irish News Ulster GAA All Star Awards banquet in the Armagh City Hotel with Monaghan players filling seven places on the All Stars team and the county also picking up the much coveted Footballer of the Year Award. Previous to this year Monaghan had taken just two awards in the previous 11 years, Tom Freeman at corner forward in 2005 and Dermot McDermott at full-back in 2001 but on the night of Thursday September 6th a whole new standard was set and an outcome that showed the new standard that Monaghan enjoys on the inter county front.
Thomas Freeman picked up his second award, the first and so far only player from the county to get awards on the double, when he was again named at corner forward and it was a great night of celebration for the Freeman family with both Freeman siblings, Damien and Thomas picking up awards. The Freemans are only the third set of brothers to get awards in the same year with Pascal and Peter Canavan figuring on the 1996 team and the McNultys, Justin and Enda being chosen on the team of 2000.
Two awards also went to Clontibret players with Vincent Corey and Dessie Mone being honoured and the other three awards went to Eoin Lennon in midfield, Rory Woods on the '40 and Tyholland's Gary McQuaid filling the centre half back role. The celebrations were completed when the president of the GAA Nicky Brennan announced that Tommy Freeman had also won the Footballer of the Year Award.
Clontibret's Dessie Mone was the second name to be announced when he was named at corner back, a position he made his own with a string of top class performances during the year. Dessie Mone outplayed all the big name forwards in what was a land mark season for the Clontibret club man, he held the famous Gooch Cooper to a couple of points from play, Benny Coulter made little impression and Brendan Devenney had to be taken off in Omagh such was the manner in which he was dominated by Mone.
Next out for Monaghan was Gary McQuaid at centre back or for the more traditional centre half back and another player who had a magnificent season. He was cited for his dashing play and excellent reading of the game as well as his ability to turn defence into attack. The only thing no one explained was how he didn't get a Vodafone All Star award as well as his Irish News gong. The same thought has occupied the minds of many regarding one of the midfielders on the Ulster Stars team, Eoin Lennon who without a shadow of a doubt proved himself to be the best midfielder in the country in 2007. He was absent from the Monaghan line out for a time after he picked up a broken jaw against Leitrim in the national league and it is not just accidental that his absence coincided with the trough Monaghan hit at that stage. His comeback heralded the start of Monaghan's championship run and the rest in well documented.
Centre half forward is key position on any team. It takes a player with ball winning ability first to stake a claim and after that the criteria are distribution, creativity, strength on the ball and an ability to go on a and take a score all of which could be a summary of the contribution of Rory Woods to Monaghan's year. His physique may have been somewhat unkindly referred to as "genetic more than athletic" by one slightly over cynical RTE pundit but he used all his natural strength and skill to best effect as he carved out a place for himself among the elite as a very difficult man to pin down. It is probably also worth mentioning that it was only when he was withdrawn in the Kerry game late on that the O'Sheas began to move and we know what happened then.
There were eleven places filled at that stage and Monaghan were to go on and take two of the remaining four to totally dominate the 2007 team. Vincent Corey filled the full forward berth for a season where he started at full back and it was only a temporary reaction to a potentially difficult situation in the Ulster final that saw him switched to the role he fills at club level, full forward. He moved there against Tyrone in the Ulster final to devastating effect and might well have stolen the title for Monaghan with a little bit of luck. He was named at number 3 on line outs for other matches but he invariably took up his position on the square and defenders became nervous.
Topping the line out was Monaghan talisman, Thomas Freeman, top score in the Ulster championship and finishing in second spot in the national listings at the end of a season when his name was synonymous with skill, pace and deadly finishing. So Monaghan's best year for quite some time and their exciting contribution that lit up the championship was recognised in the most tangible way in the province as they took almost half of the positions on the team that was chosen by the readers of the Irish News. That point wasn't lost on GAA President Nicky Brennan when he spoke following the awards ceremony, saying he was most impressed with both the scheme and the presentation on the night. "Some people might think that it's a little bit parochial but the scheme is based on the general territory of the newspaper which is across the counties of Ulster and indeed in other parts of the country other papers and media outlets have their own awards so it is very appropriate that the Irish News should have this scheme. I think it's a great ceremony as it recognises the excellence of Ulster players during the year.
What impressed me most was the number of first-time winners on this year's team with most of them from Monaghan. They only had two before this and now it's seven and that is a reflection on the excellent year that Monaghan have had. You cannot argue with the selection either because it is chosen by the supporters on the ground."
For Thomas Freeman it was celebration on the double, it was his second Irish News Ulster All Star award and he also picked up the Player of the Year which would make up in some small measure for the disappointment felt at the end of the season. He felt it made up somewhat for what he called "a bittersweet end to the season" and said that with six team mates picking up awards it really was fantastic for the whole team. To be voted Player of the Year in Ulster he was "just gob-smacked, just absolutely delighted" and with the county taking seven awards he felt it was a recognition of where Monaghan had reached and where they were now. "We have come on a lot in the ratings and we worked very hard for that. I would like to think that we are rated now in the top five or six teams in the country but that didn't come overnight. It took a lot of hard work and it is going to take a lot more hard work because if we don't work hard we could find ourselves going down in the ratings very quickly"
For Damien Freeman as captain of Monaghan it was a very proud night and he described it as absolutely fantastic for Monaghan and great for all seven players but felt that it was also a tribute to the whole team because everyone pushed everyone else in training and everyone of the 30 on the panel worked hard and he expressed delight that he and the six other players were there picking up the awards for the county.
Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness was a special guest at the awards presentation and he felt that Monaghan had made a big impact this year and felt that there could be a considerable degree of expectation about the future of Monaghan and what they could achieve in 2008. "I was very impressed with Monaghan this year in the Ulster final and indeed they could very well have won through to the All Ireland final, so I think people have a lot to look forward to and I think their hopes can be very high for next year".
Another special guest on the night was Monaghan team manager Seamus McEnaney who saw the awards as recognition for the hard work and some consolation for the disappointment as well. "As manager I would have to say that it was a satisfying season in relation to progress on the playing field and for the individual players concerned it was a very proud moment. It was a very proud moment for me as manager as well to see seven Monaghan players lifting awards. That's a great position for us to be in now and for us to be rated that highly is good for Monaghan because we only had two awards altogether before this year and to pick up seven made for a great end to the season for the players."
The Irish News Ulster All Stars Team for 2007:
John Devine (Tyrone), Dessie Mone (Monaghan), Kevin McCloy (Derry), Michael McGoldrick (Derry), Conor Gormley (Tyrone), Gary McQuaid (Monaghan), Damien Freeman (Monaghan), Eoin Lennon (Monaghan), Fergal Doherty (Derry), Enda Muldoon (Derry), Rory Woods (Monaghan), Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone), Paddy Bradley (Derry), Vincent Corey (Monaghan), Thomas Freeman (Monaghan).
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