In 2007, for the first time in over 50 years, Clontibret O'Neills managed to put SFC titles back-to-back. In doing so, they increased their tally of blue riband tophies to thirteen. There was so much of a deja vu feel about Clontibret's march to the 2007 Monaghan SFC title that it was almost unreal. Giving Latton a lesson, on the double, and beating 'blayney not once but twice for good measure on the way to claiming a magnificent 13th Mick Duffy Cup success. The O'Neills got off on the frontfoot with a morale-boosting 1-14 to 1-12 win over the Faughs in a dramatic opening contest played at Gavan Duffy Park on Sunday, May 24th last. Eyeing up the Mick Duffy Cup from close quarters has been the Clontibret modus operandi for more years than your average turf accountant can rightly remember. And, on cue, the O'Neills certainly posted notice of their intention to hold onto the glittering prize when the 2007 blue riband competition kicked off at the tail end of last May. Over the course of a cracking hour's football, an impressive 1-13 of the defending champions' final tally against the Faughs was engineered from open play In the opening round of the competition in July of 2006, the would-be champions handed neighbours Tyholland a 12 points hiding and the rest, as they say, is history. Last May's opening win over 'blayney certainly saw Clontibret send out a similarily stark signal to the other wannabes, begging the question, would history repeat itself? But the jury was out at that juncture with regard to just how much Clontibret and Castleblayney had revealed of themselves in their opening head-to-head clash. The would-be champions did most of their best work against 'blayney in the opening half at the end of which they stood on easy street on the back of a 1-8 to 0-4 interval lead. Things got even better for Clontibret in the third quarter though as they extended their advantage to a massive ten points just nine minutes after the restart. The champions set out their stall from the opening whistle with county star Vincent Corey making good some excellent approach play by Pauric McGuigan and Michael Hughes. Corey eventually got on the end of a deft cross from the last-named to put the O'Neills a goal ahead and firmly in the driving seat. By the 11th minute, the Saffrons were seven points to the good although it wasn't all good news as John Mone was forced to retire with a hamstring injury. Amazingly, Castleblayney might well have been much further behind but two Clontibret shots dropped short into the 'keeper's arms and another one drifted narrowly wide of the post. It wasn't until the 14th minute that the Faughs opened their account but Clontibret continued to dictate matters and by half-time seemed set to coast their way to victory. However after another fine ten minutes spell after the restart, Clontibret were forced back onto their heels and for most of the rest of the match they were on the ropes. A 41st minute goal by Damien Hughes for 'blayney threw the cat amongst the pidgeons but the relocation of Vincent Corey to midfield three minutes later steadied the O'Neills' ship. Clontibret fought a determined and brave rearguard action from there to the finish but things looked dicey when, on the 60th minute mark, only two points separated the sides. The O'Neills held firm though with Dessie Mone thwarting another 'blayney attack and after another couple of close shaves for Clontibret, the final whistle sounded. It was a gritty, really workmanlike win for Clontibret but even the dogs in the street knew that championship garlands don't blossom at the tail end of May. Certainly no one in the defending champions' camp dared to eye a county semi-final tie never mind an Ulster club campaign at that juncture. In fairness to Clontibret's management triumvirate of Mick O'Dowd, Damien Moen and Brendan Murphy, there wasn't the hint of triumphalism in the immediate aftermath of the match. A quarter-final tie against Latton beckoned with, crucially, 2006 absentees Jonathan McGuigan, Paul McGuigan, Darragh Mulligan and Shane Mulligan back into the fold. Clontibret now boasted a greater strength in depth in 2007 and it was the chasing pack who looked tentative and nervy and not the champions as the race unfolded. Past clashes and recent league form pointed towards a very closely contested contest with memories of Clontibret's single point win in their last championship meeting telling. And, as things panned out, just the minimum separated the sides once more as the O'Neills kept their championship hopes on track with a 0-8 to 0-7 win over their opponents. Clontibret went into the match without the services of Jonathan McGuigan and John Paul Mone and took a little while to settle into the fray. With 18 minutes on the clock, Clontibret led by the odd point in five with a free by Conor McGuigan edging his side ahead. The game continued to be a rollercoaster affair with the pendulum swinging from one end to another but Clontibret finished the first half strongly with two points from Conor McManus. Leading by 0-5 to 0-3 on the restart, Clontibret were pegged back to level terms eleven minutes into the second half as Latton refused to lie down. Latton later leaped into pole position by taking the lead with five minutes left to play only for good work by Paraic Duffy ushered Martin Corey through for the leveller. One minute later, Clontibret nipped back in front when a storming run by Vincent Corey ended with him parting with the ball to brother Martin who did the necessary to seal the issue. That win was repeated a few weeks later in the semi-final in early October at Clones with the O'Neill's having four points, 1-8 to 1-4, to spare this time around. It was far from a vintage Clontibret display though and they were a mite fortunate to go in at the break just trailing by 0-3 to 1-2, conceding the goal after just three minutes. Latton did most of the running but the O'Neills doggedly stuck to their task and two points from Conor McManus had his side on level terms after 43 minutes. It was nip and tuck from there to the finish with the O'Neills taking the lead for only the second time when Martin Corey pointed three minutes from the end of normal time. A converted Latton 45 seemed to signal a draw but there was a sting in the tail when a long delivery by Dessie Mone went all the way to the Latton net for a freak finish to the tie. And so to the final. Another case of deja vu for Clontibret and Castleblayney Faughs. The very much predictable head-to-head in Clones in mid-October had a slight majority of pundits favouring Clontibret making it back-to-back SFC titles. In bidding to notch two consecutive SFC titles for the first time in over 50 years, the Class of 2007 sought to emulate their predecessors of 1955 and '56. As if that wasn't enough incentive for the modern-day O'Neills, the fact that it was 'blayney who had thwarted their back-to-back ambitions in 1998 added further spice to the mix. As things panned out, experience proved key as Clontibret secured a fully deserved 1-10 to 0-10 win after an absorbing encounter which always looked as if it would go to the wire. The O'Neills got off to a perfect start with a goal from man-of-the-match Conor McManus after just minutes with Paraic Duffy setting his colleague up after a terrific sortie up field. The Faughs looked shell-shocked but circled the wagons and thanks, in the main, to Ciaran Tavey frees crept back onto level terms by the 12th minute. The second quarter was a more dogged period with defences on top for the most part and marksmanship leaving something to be desired. A Ciaran Tavey point had Clontibret trailing for the first time in the match but then a free by Conor McManus in stoppage time left the sides deadlocked at 1-4 to 0-7 at half-time. Clontibret came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half with two points by Fergal Mone and Conor McManus easing them into a lead they were never to lose thereafter. That said, the O'Neills were to get a huge let-off shortly afterwards when 'blayney's Gary Ward rifled his shot against the bottom of the upright. The O'Neills began to get an increasingly significant grip on the exchanges in the middle of the field and, accordingly, the Clontibret forwards began to prosper. Conor McManus and Vincent Corey both popped up to point in the 45th and 47th minutes to leave the defending champions three points in front. The Faughs did their damndest to gain parity again and while Clontibret's lead was twice cut to two points over the course of the final ten minutes, the O'Neills were unstoppable. When the final whistle sounded, Clontibret were still three points in front. A date with Crossmaglen beckoned but sin sceal eile. Clontibret's heroes against 'blayney lined up as follows: Paul McElroy; Martin Corey, Eamonn Ward, Paraic Duffy; Darach Mooney, Dessie Mone, Paul McGuigan; John Paul Mone, Eoin Greenan; Rodney Gorman (0-1), Conor McManus (1-5), Paraic McGuigan; Michael Hughes, Vincent Corey (0-1), Fergal Mone (0-3). Subs used; Brendan Og Magennis; Ronan Murphy, Daithi McKeown, John Golden. FOR CLONTIBRET HURLERS IT WAS A GOOD YEAR Two trophies on the side board in any one year would be regarded as a successful one but when it is one of the hurling clubs in Monaghan that achieves that level of success it could make for what would be regarded as an outstanding season. In fact the only way that Clontibret could have bettered their season was to win the senior hurling championship and that is probably something that will still rankle a little at year's end when they look back on a season where they made the early running but championship wise came up just a little bit short. It was something of a different year too for the Clontibret hurling club in that they were the first of the hurling clubs in Monaghan to be integrated under the new initiative within the association that all clubs will be known as GAA clubs and not separate hurling or football or lady's football or camogie clubs. The hurlers came under the umbrella of the Clontibret GAA banner and are now fully integrated in the new administration but as far as the management of Sean Hahessy and Peter McKenna were concerned it made absolutely no difference. "We saw no perceivable different in any aspect of our activities on the hurling front. The dual players were still there and were not affected, it was no different. We had been operating with big assistance from the football club over the years in any case so it wasn't going to be a major change. The hurlers have always been treated exceptionally well in Clontibret and this year it was more different and I think probably we will see more of that now in the coming years." Looking at their year overall Sean Hahessy would be of the opinion that they had a very satisfying year. "This was a year when we made progress, a year when we got some young players into the team and I have to say the reserve hurling league was very good in that regard so we would be well satisfied with how things went for us." Sean Hahessy may have been relatively new to management but his experience as a player with Clontibret and Monaghan and before that with his native Carrick Swans gave him a good base on which to operate. "I hadn't been involved for a few years with the club but I'm delighted I took on the job on although I have to say that Peter McKenna who was working with me was a fantastic help and a big influence on how well we did. Peter is very experienced from an administration point of view and has a great way with people and that ability as a man manager was of great benefit to us. He was also a very cool head along the line and had a great facility for picking the right option when we had to look at certain things that were happening so I was lucky in that regard that Peter was so tuned into everything. "I suppose one other thing that also had a huge influence on how our year went was picking Arthur Hughes as club captain. We talked to as many people as we could before the start of the year about who would captain the team because we wanted the captain to be someone who would have a very positive role in our handling of team affairs and all the advice we got was that Arthur Hughes was the man for the job. How well we did and the success we enjoyed proved that Arthur was a great choice. He was a great motivator and inspired others at training and he was particularly good in that regard on match days in that he could bring players around him into the games and he always led by example at all times. "His role in that regard was also crucial as he worked to get the turnout we had at training because it was a great response from the panel. There was a great desire to win and we always had 24 or 25 players at training even at the start of the year and that effort paid off as we held out in a couple of very close matches to take the two league titles. The senior hurling league was a very good competition this year and we got some great results but we also shipped a couple of defeats as well. "We got a good start with a win and a draw from our first two matches and that gave the boys a great boost and eventually we booked our place in the final against Monaghan Harps who had been the form team all through. Pat O'Connell had come back to them and made a big difference and he nearly cost us the league title as well. We got a great start to the championship with a big win over Inniskeen in Carrickmacross but then we lost to C'Blayney in the semi final back in the middle of July. It was disappointing because it was a game we could have won but we missed a few chances and paid for it. "To be fair to the lads they responded well and we kept the league going and just two months later we were in the final in Ballybay. We looked in trouble as the Harps led all through and they always came back at us any time we scored. I suppose the score that turned it was Noel Morgan's goal with about ten minutes left because that lifted us and we came with a late rally to victory by just a point at the end. "I suppose if I had to single out any one player apart from Arthur Hughes who had a major influence on our season it would be Noel Morgan. He was our main scoring threat and he showed all his qualities when he pounced for that goal. He has a great attitude and is always alert to any little chance at all. Since the end of the season he has gone to Australia along with Eoin Greenan but I hope they don't stay too long because we will need them next year." That goal brought Clontibret level for the first time game and set the game up for a grand stand finish. " It was a hectic finish with Noel giving us the lead for the first time a minute later and then showing all his qualities to strike back after Monaghan Harps had drawn level. John Greene put us two up in the final minute but it wasn't over at that and we had to survive some late pressure before time ran out and we were home with the minimum to spare." You cant beat winning is a phrase that is often quoted and not just in the GAA but it proved to be the right theory for Clontibret as within two weeks they had completed an unique double when they added the Reserve Hurling league title to the Senior title with a deserved if hard fought victory over C'Blayney in McKeown Park, Drumhowan on Sunday September 23rd. Unfortunately it was an occasion that will be at least partially remembered for all the wrong reasons with an unseemly melee marring the proceedings at the end when tempers flared out of control in stoppage time and a mass brawl broke out which involved players, substitutes and officials from both sides. It was a game that always teetered on the brink and threatened to boil over on a number of occasions with first time tactics were the order of the day and some over robust tackling not helping either. "Apart from that though there was some fine hurling played with top class scores and some fine defending by both sides. We started well and we were ahead by five points at the end of the first quarter with a goal by Greg Duffy being a big help. C'Blayney came back at us though and by half time it was all square. We started the second half well and again pulled clear although play had become very scrappy. Despite that though we plugged away and got a couple more scores to leave us leading by four points with about six or seven minutes left. John Greene scored a couple of good points and Cormac Connolly was on form with the frees but we knew it was going to be a close finish as C'Blayney will always come back at you. "They did come back at us and it was getting very tense going into injury time. Mark Rooney put us five points in front and C'Blayney were now looking for a goal as they threw everything into attack. I was very proud of our backs at this stage though as they defended well but I suppose the pressure was beginning to tell and tempers got a bit hot with the result that the referee sent off three players before blowing time. It wasn't an ending that you would like but it was a great win for us and will be a big help going inot the new season. Players have to learn how to win and especially how to win tight matches and our hurlers will have learned quite a bit this season." Team and Scorers v Monaghan Harps: Aidan Morgan, Fergal McGuigan, Tomas Greenan, David Morgan, Brian Morgan, Aidan Kerr, Fintan Brennan, Eoin Greenan, Arthur Hughes 0-1, John Greene 0-5, Noel Morgan 1-3, Brian McArdle, Cormac Connolly 0-2, Mark Rooney, Benny Cravens. Subs: Shane Magennis for B Cravens, Colm Greenan for C Connolly, Arthur Morgan for M Rooney. Tweet

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