Munterconnaught’s McGovern sets sights on history

By Shaun Casey

STEPHEN McGovern’s side have already travelled further than any Munterconnaught team has in the club’s history. They ended a 31-year wait for a Cavan county title this season and are now one win away from competing in an Ulster final.

Their penalty shootout win over Armagh’s Clonmore on their last day out has set them up for a semi-final showdown with Emyvale. The Monaghan champions have arguably been the favourites for the competition from a long way out.

After winning championship gold in the Breffni County, Munterconnaught hammered Ardglass of Down before struggling past Armagh’s representatives Clonmore at the quarter-final stage.

“We could see what it meant to the fans after the Clonmore game. I’m delighted for the community and for the people that really get behind us and do a lot of the unseen work,” said McGovern.

“It is big for the club; there’s no point in trying to get away from it. It is big and we’re in a good place, but you know what? There’s no point in making a big fuss. It’s up to us to go, work hard and perform on the day.”

On the challenge of Emyvale, who needed extra-time themselves to shake off the attentions of Carndonagh in their first-round clash, McGovern knows the task at hand but insists his side can only focus on themselves and work on what they can improve on.

“A lot of people have been talking an awful lot about Emyvale since before this competition even started,” he added. “They are an elite group for this level but we’ll just have to embrace that, and we’ll have to relish it.

“They have some star-studded names, but we’ll just have to bring it right back to us and focus on what we’re all about, what our principles are and what our values are, and we’ll aim to give a good account of ourselves.”

Looking back on that Clonmore win, McGovern was delighted with the character his lads showed to earn a draw firstly and then to win on penalties. Having lost a man to a red card just before extra-time, everything seemed to be going against them.

Munterconnaught flew out of the traps, however, and led by four at half-time of those additional 20 minutes. Clonmore flipped the switch to go three ahead only for Sean Nolan to bag a late goal to bring the game beyond extra-time.

“There’s no point in getting carried away with that game. It was a hard way to win it. I usually come through the interviews and say I always thought we’d get there but it looked like it was gone from us, it really did.

“To go, with a man less, from corner-back the whole way up and end up with the ball in the back of the net, fair dues to them. There’s something really deep in the well there and they just won’t say no. So thank God we got over the line by hook or by crook.”