MONAGHAN DARES TO DREAM…

10 August 2018 No Comments by The Northern Standard

John P Graham

Dreams die hard in the cruel world of sport and Monaghan has experienced that cruelty as much as anyone else, and maybe even more than some, but as a county they have never given up hope.

Thirty years is a long time to wait for an appearance in an All Ireland senior championship semi-final, but that’s what Monaghan has endured and in that 30 years they have seen many false dawns and bitter disappointments. Despite that, though, Monaghan always had the hunger and that hunger is now greater than ever, fuelled as it is by the disappointment and heartache of just failing to scale the heights in the past.

The Monaghan juggernaut rolled into Salthill last Saturday evening after gaining momentum through a series of qualifier games following the gut-wrenching disappointment at losing to Fermanagh in the Ulster senior championship semi-final. But that momentum saw Monaghan shatter the glass ceiling in Pearse Stadium, to get over what had become something of a monkey on their back in not being able to get past the quarter-final stage of the championship since the qualifiers were introduced in 2001.

They came a cropper on six occasions in headquarters – three times to Tyrone, twice to Dublin and once to Kerry – but all that disappointment was washed away on Saturday evening last when the Tribesmen were put to the sword with a controlled performance…

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