Monaghan SFC first-time victories

Maghercloone – 2004

OVER the last half century, only one club has added their name to the Monaghan winning roll of honour, and that was Magheracloone back in 2004. Before the turn of the Millennium, the Mitchell’s had never appeared in a final, but they have been in six since. Their record is not good, losing five of those games, but they will always have that glorious day in 2004 when they defeated Scotstown.

In the end, they made history in rather comfortable fashion as they won 1-10 to 0-5 at Clones to make amends for their final replay loss to Clontibret in their first appearance two years earlier. It was a physical affair and the opening exchanges were even, but once Man of the Match Paudie Finnegan fired home in the 17th minute it was pretty much all one-way traffic for David Reilly’s side. Tommy Freeman matched Scotstown’s own tally all by himself as the Mick Duffy Cup found a new home for the 15th time.

Scotstown – 1960

SCOTSTOWN may be the team to beat in the Oriel county these days, but they were a late enough edition to the winners’ list. That owed more to identity rather than talent with the area divided into three teams, Scotstown, Tydavnet and Knockatallon, at various stages before it all came together to form the club we know today 50 years ago.

This new force took no prisoners when they disrupted the Ballybay-Clontibret-Castleblayney domination with back-to-back final wins over the Faughs. The 1960 season was littered with surprise results as well as appeals and objections with a total of seven surrounding the semi-final meeting of ‘Blayney and Monaghan Harps. It meant that the final was not played until very late in the year and the weather conditions reflected that, but Scotstown would not have cared much as they defeated ‘Blayney 1-5 to 1-3 in Ballybay. They haven’t done badly since.

Ballybay – 1953

BALLYBAY’S first title in 1953 kick-started a golden period for the Pearse Brothers as another four would be added before the decade was out. That 1953 success was not entirely out of the blue as a number of the team had played a part in Latton’s success in 1950 while a 1945 minor title suggested that something positive was happening.

The club had been in one final previously, losing to Monaghan Harps in 1922, but they would win their second outing in ’53. Donaghmoyne provided the opposition on that occasion and Ballybay were victorious on a 2-8 to 0-6 scoreline in Carrickmacross. Wild celebrations followed as the American Cup, the trophy played for back then, was carried through Ballybay. It was a good season all round as Ballybay also claimed the league title, and they would go on to be a dominant force in the county for the next number of years.

Clontibret – 1949

CLONTIBRET’S first title in 1949 certainly sparked something in them because they would go on to become the first side in the county’s history to win four titles in-a-row. The club had lost three finals prior to their 1949 meeting with Carrickmacross with some time off as the club folded in between.

They won the final 0-11 to 2-3 against Carrick to become the first holders of the American Cup. Before that, when the tournament was played on a regional basis with winners going on to meet in the latter stages, no cup was presented. Tony Prunty was the key scorer on that 1949 team and even without injured captain John Murray, they got the job done. One other player of note was defender Packie McCully who had been responsible for picking the saffron colour for the club’s jerseys. From there, the side would go onto dominate and have raced up the roll of honour since that breakthrough win.

Clones, St Tiernach’s – 1943

LIKE most clubs, Clones went through various guises and bouts of formation and reformation, and one of those earlier versions claimed a county title in 1943.

After a Toal Cup win in 1929, football basically stopped in the town for a decade before the St Tiernach’s were reformed in 1939 a year after a Gaels team and a Harps team had shown up. Inniskeen provided the opposition in Carrick in 1943 and with the likes of Peter McCarney, who would go on to play for Ulster, providing class to the side they earned a 1-6 to 0-7 final win.

Latton – 1930

LATTON, with the help of a number of Ballybay players, won their first title in 1930 but they would have to wait another 66 years to reach the county final.

The club had won the junior title the previous season and they were able to add senior honours thanks to a 2-1 to 0-4 win over Inniskeen in Carrick. It would be 2005 before Latton would taste success again, although they now have four titles to their name.