Donaghmoyne ready to take their toughest test yet
By Maitiú Monaghan
It is a great time to be from Donaghmoyne, the south Monaghan club at the heart of everything that’s going on in Monaghan football.
If you take a left off the N2 down a twisty rural lane, the Fontenoy’s complex comes into view at the bottom of a drumlin. A state-of-the-art facility accompanied by a number of playing fields that continue to produce high-quality footballers.
Already this season the Donaghmoyne ladies have won the Monaghan Senior Football Championship, and they’re going about the business of winning an Ulster title nicely- with wins in their opening two round-robin games booking their place in the semi-final.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the minors last weekend, as they lost out in the Division One Championship Final to an exceptional Aughnamullen team. Still, the quality on display showed the Fontenoy’s will be strong in years to come.
Promotion from Intermediate to Senior is already guaranteed for the men’s team, having gone unbeaten through the IFC group-stages, before coming from behind to beat Emyvale in the semi-final.
Paddy Martin’s side will now face Ballybay in what should be a classic final on Sunday.
“The earlier games probably didn’t battle harden us,” Donaghmoyne chairman Anthony Burns told The Celt.
“Probably until the semi-final, then we were battle hardened. Undefeated, yeah, but as Mike Tyson says ‘when you get a slap between the eyes’, we were delighted to get battle hardened in the semis.”
By paraphrasing Mike Tyson, Burns offered a glimpse of Donaghmoyne’s ambition. But his concerns that Donaghmoyne were undercooked had merit. The Fontenoy’s finished top of their group with a scoring difference of +50.
They also recorded statement wins against IFL winners Killanny (2-18 to 0-15), Aughnamullen (2-27 to 2-7), and Clones (4-19 to 1-16) in the earlier stages of the campaign.
Joint-captain Ronan McDonald has been a big part of their success this year. Playing in goal, his kick-outs have been flawless, as has his shot stopping.
“Whether we were undercooked, I don’t know,” McDonald wondered aloud.
“Every game you go out, you try and put your best foot forward, try and look at the opposition, see what you can learn, and implement your own game plan.
“I think we’ve done that quite well this year.
“Thankfully it has led us into the final, and hopefully there’ll be more of the same this weekend.”
When asked about the prospect of facing Ballybay’s star studded forward line in the decider, the Donaghmoyne goalkeeper was cheerful.
“It isn’t something you’d want to face every day,” he laughed.
“We know the quality Ballybay have. They’ve been to the pinnacle of Monaghan football in the last five years.
“These are the games we want to playing in. You want to be facing, Dessie Ward, Christopher McGuinness, Shane McGuinness.
“If you’re playing against these boys in knock-out football, it means you’re doing something right.”
Donaghmoyne have plenty of attacking threats of their own. Davy Garland is their main man.
The deadly corner-forward certainly knows where the posts are- he was umpiring at last weekend’s SFC final between Scotstown and Truagh- as were both McDonald’s Ronan, and his brother Liam.
Someone else will have to do that job this weekend- Donaghmoyne have a job to do.