Truagh’s long road to a county final

Maitiú Monaghan

As excitement builds in north Monaghan ahead of Sunday’s SFC Final, Truagh manager Mark Counihan and joint-captain John McCarron are busy preparing for the challenge that Scotstown will bring.

For McCarron, who shares the captaincy duties with Ryan Mohan, returning to a Championship Final for the first time since 2021 is “great”.

“In 2021 we thought we’d be back sooner,” he told the media at the launch of the Greenfield Foods Senior Football Championship Final on Monday evening.

“It didn’t work out that way,” he added.

It certainly did not. After the highs of 2021, Truagh were brought right back down to earth, and lower, when they were relegated to Intermediate.

Their stint in the grade was brief, winning the league the following season to bounce straight back up to Senior.

McCarron explained that his side had to “dig deep” during that period, but with the opportunity to win the SFC this weekend, against rivals Scotstown, Truagh are exactly “where they want to be”.

In 2021 a young panel ultimately ran out of steam in the second-half against Scotstown in St. Tiernach’s Park. However, the spine of that team remains the same, and four years on have picked up vital experience that will aid them this weekend.

However, the club have also brought through a number of talented young players who have raised the quality of the group.

“We’ve a good mix in our team at the minute,” McCarron explained.

“There’s young boys coming through with the Monaghan u20s at the minute, this year’s management set up have gone above and beyond to get us to a county final.

“We won’t take anything for granted, we’re glad to be there,” he added.

Certainly the addition of u20 talent has been a real asset this season, particularly dynamic forwards Sean O’Connell and Luke ‘Hughey’ McKenna.

The pair have lit the Championship up this season. Paired with Gary Mohan, Oran McElligott, and Chrissy McKenna, teams have been left wondering who Truagh’s main attacking threat is.

Truagh seem to have gotten the balance right though. Paudie McKenna and McCarron are both seasoned veterans at this stage, with all the experience needed to help the younger players navigate their first county final.

“We need that bit of experience, and the youth coming in” the Truagh captain remarked.

“The boys coming in, they’re talented boys. They’ve really pushed us on, and got us to a new level.

“It’s the ‘want’. That’s the key, to want to get to a county final. You don’t get there too often. We haven’t- delighted just to be there.”

The Gaels didn’t take the easy path to the final. In the group stage, they had draws at home with Castleblayney and Magheracloone, beat Cremartin comfortably, before an agonising defeat to Clontibret in Round 5- that stopped them qualifying directly for the semi-finals.

However, they took their game to another level in the knock-out stages, weathering a physical and metaphorical storm in their quarter-final win over Carrickmacross, before avenging the loss to Clontibret in a six-goal thriller in the semis.

“We were happy with our group campaign, it was a tricky group,” McCarron says.

Indeed it was. Interestingly, no home team won a game in Group 2 before the Round 5, when both Clontibret and Castleblayney won at home.

“It shows how competitive the Monaghan Championship is,” the Truagh captain continued.

“The last group game we got tipped by Clontibret. We knew we’d have to face them again to get to a county final, luckily we did and came out the other side of it.”

Management

That sentiment was echoed by Truagh manager, Mark Counihan, who also spoke in Cloghan on Monday evening.

“It is a day every team wants to be involved in, we’re very happy to be there,” the Truagh boss began.

“In 2021, around Covid, we had a lot of boys at home, and based at home. They were able to put their best foot forward that year, and it took them to a county final.

“After it we had a bit of emigration, a few lads left. It probably weakened our panel a wee bit.

“All credit to the boys, they went down to Intermediate and sucked it up. They came back up stronger.

“These young lads are progressing all the time and getting better.

“It is a better balanced team, probably, over the head of it all,” Counihan explained.

Excellent management of the pandemic, and then Intermediate football, has set Truagh apart from some of their counter-parts.

Monaghan’s IFC is not for the faint-hearted, as other clubs who have dropped down have discovered in recent years.

However, the benefits of winning in Monaghan’s second-tier are well documented. Magheracloone, Carrickmacross, and now Truagh have all reaped the rewards of a stint in Intermediate, which Counihan alludes to.

“You look at recent teams who have come up, they’ve all done well. There was nothing between ourselves and Carrickmacross [last year’s IFC winners] in the quarter-final this year. It went down to the last minute.

“Magheracloone came up and won a league. Intermediate teams are always strong when they come up, and they will be again.

“You don’t get to county finals unless you have a good panel, and we have a good panel.

“We’ve had to use different guys on different days, they’ve all stepped up. The lads are pushing hard in training, trying to get into the first 15 to start with, and then into the plans coming off the bench.

“It is a lovely headache to have coming into a county final.”

Although little, if any, motivation will be needed ahead of an SFC Final, the Truagh manager is well aware of the local ties with Scotstown, and the rivalry between the clubs.

“The first thing I’ll say, it is a massive rivalry, but there’s a great respect there. It adds to the occasion when its a derby.”

There’s no escaping the rivalry for either side. Both Counihan and McCarron are teachers in St. Macartan’s College in Monaghan- where his opposite number, Scotstown manager David McCague, is the principal.

“We’re not outnumbered,” Counihan joked. “It has been good craic, even with the students, all building towards the big day.”