By Michael McMullan

CLONTIBRET minors’ 60-week journey reaches the last corner on Thursday when they lock horns with Dromintee in the Ulster Minor final at St Paul’s. Having lost just two from last year’s team, a core of players floated the idea to JP Mone, joint-manager with Shane McMahon, about getting started up with a fresh tilt at the title in mind for 2025.

Last year’s Clontibret side began the season in Division Two of the league before being promoted to the top grade for the championship.

A win over eventual champions Scotstown in their group helped them to the knock-out stages where they lost to a fancied Monaghan Harps side.

“The boys set their stall out on November 12th last year,” Mone recalls. “They came to me looking to come out more or less straight away.

“I wanted to take another couple of weeks break, to be honest, but they came to me looking to go back out. They wanted to go back out even though a lot of them are involved with school football.”

Conor McManus is part of the management ticket with highly-rated young coach Ross Lowey also on board with Dessie Mone, younger brother of JP, dipping in as well.

McManus, McMahon and Dessie Mone were part of the last Ulster-winning Clontibret minor team 2002. It’s a game JP Mone sat down to watch over the Christmas holidays and there was also a 30-year reunion for their 1995 minor side, a team he was on that lost narrowly to Loup in the Ulster final.

“We have fantastic memories of the St. Paul’s tournament,” Mone said. “I think this is our fourth final to appear in and we’ve been up there before as well, when we’ve won championships in our own county.

“As soon as we’d won our own county title this year and we got back to the club, our first thoughts were thinking about getting to St Paul’s.

“Wind, rain, hail or shine, there is just the atmosphere that builds up around the game when you’re up there.

“I know our own club always embraces it and I have no doubt Dromintee embrace it too and bring a crowd, so I fully expect there to be a great atmosphere there on Thursday.

“There’s no other place that you want to be and it is the pinnacle of Ulster minor club football.

“We’re delighted to be there and we’ve got to put our best foot forward and then whatever the result is after that, what it’ll be will be.”

Standing in their way of a second title is a Dromintee team who have won every competition they’ve been in all the way up through.

“I know Dromintee quite well from down through the years,” Mone added.

“I would have spoken to Aidan (O’Rourke) different times over the years. We are a bit similar, a small rural club, just like them.

“He took to them from when they were knee-high right up through. He’s done a fantastic job with them. Just looking forward to putting ourselves up against them.”