‘ALL the best in the final lads…’

Micheál Bannigan really didn’t think he’d be involved in Sunday’s Ulster final against Armagh. When the hooter sounded at the end of a tumultuous semi-final clash against Derry, it looked like Monaghan’s wait for a 17th provincial title would extend for at least another year.

That’s not how it happened of course. Pandemonium isn’t too strong a word. After impassioned pleas from Rory Beggan, not to mention a few words from Davy Garland, who referees club football in Dublin, Noel Mooney acknowledged that Monagan were perfectly entitled to have a crack at a two-pointer from a sideline.

And even then, Derry were odds on to book their place in the final. Jack McCarron had other ideas with a spectcacular effort sending the game into extra-time, and the rest, as this say, is history.

In one respect, the Farney had got out of jail – but in another, you had to credit a stirring second-half comeback and stunning individual performances from Beggan and co.

Their captain Micheál Bannigan also delivered a barnstorming performance, and is to first to admit that he had no incline whatsoever that the game was anything other than over.

“I hadn’t a clue. I shook hands with three or four Derry players and wished them the best of luck in the final. Next thing I saw Beggan going tearing up as he always does. I just thought he was giving the referee a mouthful about something!

“I thought the game was over. Next thing he blew the whistle and Noel came back over to talk to me. I said, ‘Is it one or two [points from a sideline]?’ He said it was two. I went over to Jack and he said, ‘do you want me to hit it?’ I said, ‘Yeah!’ And he goes, ‘right, give me a good ball.’ So I ran and got him a ball and handed it to him, and that’s as much of a role as I played. But yeah, I hadn’t a clue what the rule was.”

McCarron’s wonderscore wasn’t the final moment of drama. Monaghan were awarded a two-point free opportunity mere seconds from the end of extra-time. Rory Beggan had to nail it – anything else would have spelt defeat – but Bannigan had total faith in the long-standing Monaghan goalkeeper.

“I’m very friendly with Beggan, and I know he likes those ones a wee bit off-centre. Once you saw that, you think this is ideal for him. I nearly think if he could’ve picked a place on the pitch, it wouldn’t have been far from that angle. So I had 100 per cent faith in him and once he connected with it I knew it was going over.”

Bannigan’s uncle is team manager Gabriel. A moment of family pride yes, but in another sense, it’s neither here nor there.

“Ass long as he gave me the captaincy I said that was alright! No, me and Gabriel have always been close. He was in as a selector before anyway. The dynamic probably didn’t change a whole pile, though we do talk more now because he’s manager and the captain-manager relationship needs to be there.”

Elaborating on Bannigan’s measured managerial style, Micheál says that he’s not really one for the hairdryer treatment, but it’s certainly no holiday camp either.

“He’s not any harder on me than anyone else. That’s not Gabriel’s style, to be fair. He’s not really hard on people. He’s hard when he has to be, but he’s not shouting and roaring and banging tables – that’s not really him.

“He’s calmer than that. There are boys on the backroom team who do that for him! Dermot Malone’s not bad at it, Damien Freeman…he definitely has boys who do that for him.”

Bannigan says they were brought back down to earth the day after their thrilling comeback victory over Derry. The manner of Armagh’s demolitiion job of Down was stark to say the least.

“We were definitely on a high, then on the Sunday, watching Armagh, you were fairly brought back down to earth with the realisation that we have to go and beat those boys. Where are the weaknesses? Where are the strengths? What can we do there?”

And they can also summon the memory of a chastening defeat to Kieran McGeeney’s men on the opening day of the league. Armagh cruised to a 1-27 to 0-18 victory, but to be fair Monaghan have already made something of their championship campaign after enduring an ill-fated Division One campaign.

:Yeah, welcome to Division One – that’s what it was like. We hadn’t been there in a year. We had an okay McKenna Cup and then, yeah, this is the level these boys are operating at. We had a tough league, had to learn a lot during the league. I think we improved incrementally as the league went on, but that was definitely a welcome to Division One for us and the way the top teams are operating at.”