By Shaun Casey

GABRIEL Bannigan was straight onto the laptop the next morning. He needed to see it again. Having done so well for so long, where did the collapse come from?

Injuries to Ryan McAnespie and Conor McCarthy didn’t help their case. Gary Mohan was only finding his feet again. Monaghan had only played one previous Division One outfit throughout the course of the season.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter that morning. Donegal were through to the All-Ireland semi-finals and Monaghan were dumped out of the championship, left to rot for the winter, wondering what might have been.

Bannigan isn’t one for excuses, but facts. Seven up at half time, they were in a brilliant position, but to get one over Jim McGuinness’ men, but they needed everything to go right. Once the second half started, the opposite happened. They fell apart.

“I watched it back the next morning and I’ve watched it back since that,” Bannigan explained. “I had a few conversations over the following 48 hours with the boys in the management team and some of the players.

“All of us were gutted. We were very proud with what we did in the first half. We were all gutted that we couldn’t sustain that in the second half, for different reasons, but there’s lots of learning points and please God we’ll get back there again and try to take those into 2026.

“You don’t take these things for granted. In 2023 we were in an All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin. We were level after 63 minutes, there was only a point in it after 67 minutes, and then 2024 was a poor year and we never really got going.

“We were in Croke Park in an All-Ireland quarter-final (this year) and it was there to be won. Now it’s about trying to make sure we get back there and trying to go further next year.”

Reflecting on the year just gone by, Bannigan hails it as a successful one. The Farney men made an immediate return to Division One football in the league and battled their way to the final eight in the race for Sam Maguire.

In doing so, they topped their group with three successive wins, the only team in the country to complete that particular feat. They defeated Clare, Louth and Ulster rivals Down to qualify for the knockout stages.

“There was no denying that it was a successful year. If you’d offered me this time last year promotion back to Division One, a league title, competitive in the championship and an All-Ireland quarter-final, I would have taken the hand off you,” he admitted.

“We were coming off the back of a disappointing 2024, so it was about getting Monaghan back playing good football, being competitive in big games and competing with the best around.

“From my perspective, the progression of the panel and bringing some of that talent through, I think we ticked an awful lot of boxes.

“We have a lot to be proud of and I’m very proud of the players and the men that are with me in the backroom team and the work that has gone in, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that quarter-final defeat didn’t hurt.”

On that Donegal defeat, Bannigan added, “We went to Croke Park completely convinced that we had the game-plan and the players to come through that. I’m still convinced we could have but things just went against us.

“There were the injuries, for example Gary Mohan was only coming back. They’re not excuses, they’re just facts. When you’re playing a big team like Donegal, you kind of need a few things to go against them.

“Those things make a big difference but another thing that went against us in my opinion, as well and all as we had played, is that we hadn’t played enough top-quality teams throughout the season.”

The Monaghan panel will have a different feel to it next season. Experienced heads Darren Hughes, Karl O’Connell and Kieran Duffy have all called time on their careers while Ciaran McNulty is off travelling.

“Kieran Duffy was a little bit of a surprise because he had a very good club championship with Latton,” the Aughnamullen clubman added.

“He looked in great shape and finished the season strongly with us. I thought he might have stayed on another year, but he is 35 in March and Kieran knows his body better than anybody.

“Darren and Karl, they were hugely valuable members of the panel this year, but they were impact players and are 38 years of age. They were absolutely brilliant lads.

“Being honest, it was up to themselves, but I wasn’t surprised. Nobody goes on forever but those three men, what servants they have been to Monaghan football.”

Bannigan was first called into the Monaghan management team by Vinny Corey in 2023 and was well aware that a big change was coming down the tracks.

“I remember when Vinny asked me to come in a couple of years ago. We were going through the panel and we knew there was going to be 8-10 players, over the following three or four years, that we would lose.

“There’s nine or ten that over the last three year who have gone, massive players for Monaghan and massive characters.

“How do you replace them? It’s through the process that I’ve spoken about, and the journey that we’re on. When I got involved with Vinny, I was under no illusions that this was the challenge – to try and evolve the playing pool and remain competitive.

“2023 went really well, 2024 we had a number of setbacks and didn’t have a great year. 2025, we bounced back and made a lot of progress. 2026 has to be written yet so everything crossed we can continue to build on the progress that we made last year.”

Bannigan, over the last few seasons, has scoured the county in search of players fit to make the step up to inter-county level and has already welcomed Karl Gallagher back into the panel for next season.

“Over the last six years, between managing at junior, intermediate and senior level with my club in Monaghan, two years with Vinny Corey and then this year, there’s not a player in Monaghan that I don’t know about or that I haven’t seen,” he continued.

“We did bring 16 new players in total into last year’s panel, five of those were u-20s, and we’re going to be doing something similar this year, although we mightn’t be bringing any of those young lads in until they’re finished with the u-20s.

“I think we got two real finds out of last year’s process, Aaron Carey and Dylan Byrne. They were the boys that got a lot of game-time. Aaron made his debut in the league final against Roscommon at Croke Park, not a bad place to make your debut.

“He got in for the championship and stayed in, and Dylan played the first challenge game with us last December against Tyrone and did well. He was marking Darren McCurry that day and did well and held his place for the rest of the year.

“We’re hoping that we might find another two or three breakout players this year to add to what we have. That’s what we have to constantly try to do in order to add value to the panel.”

Attentions have swiftly turned towards 2026 and getting ready for another big year. Division One football presents its own challenges and come championship time, Monaghan will be aiming to be as competitive as ever.

“I’m a ferocious competitor so I want to win things. We did lift a cup last year and I certainly want to go for more silverware but that’s an outcome.

“My focus with the group will be on the inputs and, I know it’s a cliché, but to focus on the process. I’ll work with lads individually on areas they need to improve and work with the full group on where we can improve as a team.

“We’ll be trying to improve Monaghan as a team in all aspects of our game, and we’ll be trying to apply that in Division One. The first goal is to be very competitive in Division One and to hopefully pick up some points along the way.

“That’s the goal with the league and that’s preparation for the championship. We want to have a very competitive team come the Ulster Championship and have a real crack at that.”