O’Connor delighted with improving squad depth as Monaghan reach u-20 decider

By Shaun Casey

THE impact off the bench was crucial for Monaghan in their Ulster u-20 Championship semi-final victory over Armagh, with Killian Kearns striking two late goals, both set up by Tommy Mallen.

The two lads added a real spark once they were introduced to the encounter and with Max Maguire getting another 60 minutes under his belt, manager Paul O’Connor is delighted with where his team are at present.

They face the challenge of reigning Ulster and All-Ireland champions Tyrone, but that’s next week’s concern. For now, O’Connor and his crew can savour getting over the line against a fancied Armagh team.

“We knew the quality side that Armagh were and obviously looking at their results this year in the group, they hadn’t lost a match,” O’Connor said after the game.

“We’re aware that from challenge matches, this particular Armagh team have been talked up by a number of counties and rightly so with the performances and the scores they were putting up.

Tyrone and Monaghan set for u-20 decider

“We knew coming back down the road from Breffni last Wednesday night that we were in with a shout. We had turned a corner, we had a bit of momentum and obviously getting boys back on the pitch helped us.

“It’s great to get a result and win but to get such a good performance, I’m delighted for the boys and everybody involved in the team.”

On the impact of the substitutes, O’Connor, who emptied the bench on Wednesday evening, added, “There’s a lot of boys pushing there. We have 33 boys on the squad and unfortunately we can only name 24, there were a couple that we couldn’t pick and that’s tough on them.

“The standard of training is very high, boys are pushing each other and we know the quality that we have. Killian was the one that came in and got us over the line and Killian, like other boys, have worked tremendously hard.

“It’s tough on those boys because Killian mightn’t have come on in all the games and there’s some boys not getting any gametime but that’s football and we try to encourage the group as much as we can and they’re all playing their part.”

Tommy Mallen didn’t see any inter-county action until Wednesday’s semi-final and the Scotstown clubman produced the goods after entering the fray, putting his hands up for a starting spot next week.

“We’re delighted to see him back and he’s missed enough football. A top, top lad. I’ve known these boys since they were 14, I’ve been very fortunate to be with them since they were 14 and they’re a good bunch of lads and none more so than Tommy.

“It’s tough on boys that age to be missing out on big games, likewise Sean Óg (McElwain), they want to play in big games and Tommy was itching at the big but we had to take the feedback from the physios and the feedback was that he was only fit for 10 or 12 minutes.

“He has been training this last two or three weeks with us so we knew putting him in, he was in a good place and we’re delighted to get him back on the pitch to showcase his talents.

“Everybody wants to see the best players playing and we were fortunate tonight that Tommy Mallen is one of those and he’s playing for our county so we’re delighted for him to be back and making such an impact on the game.”