Monahan hopes to lead Drumlane back to intermediate ranks

Paul Fitzpatrick

Drumlane last reached a county final eight years ago, losing that intermediate decider to Drumalee. Just half a dozen survivors from that side remain on the current panel and surprisingly captain Kian Monahan is not one of them.
The big midfielder broke into the Sons of O’Connell squad the following year and, seven seasons on, he will get his first opportunity to line out in a county final this Sunday. And, even though he’s just 23, the former St Patrick’s College player is keen to make up for lost time.
“It’s an exciting time and I’m honoured to get the chance. I’ve been hanging around the senior squad I suppose for a while. I was only talking to the lads about it, the years don’t be long going by. It’s seven years now since I came on to the panel,” Monahan told The Anglo-Celt.
“You’re looking for success. This year we got promoted up out of Division 3 in the league and we’ll be looking to do the same in the championship.
“Back in 2010, I was watching from the sidelines. It was a disappointing day. It was a good year too, they were unlucky in the end after a good run.”
Drumlane’s big breakthrough at junior level arrived in 1999 and after 11 years building, they made that assault on the intermediate title. There has been plenty of flux in the panel since, some ups and downs, but a core group persisted with it and with the arrival of young reinforcements, Drumlane are now a force to be reckoned with again, albeit at a lower level.
Demotion last season was a setback but they didn’t feel sorry for themselves; rather, all involved got stuck in again with the aim of bouncing straight back up.
“Over the last couple of years, there was a bit of experience but there was a bit of a fall-off, there were a few years before my age group where we didn’t get anybody through so only that those boys stuck around and kept the numbers up... we had a few boys retiring and emigrating, JP Kelly went to America and Glen Fitzpatrick went to Australia so you will have that too.
“A few of the older lads moved away as well. There’s a lot of commitment to football these days and coming down the road from Dublin for the older boys with wives and children, it’s not just as handy.
“A few them dropped off too but we were lucky enough to have a couple of number of boys coming through in the last couple of years and it seems to be improving things anyway.”

Back (from left): Ciaran Crowe, Declan Lunney, Stephen Mc Cann, Aaron Gilroy, Donal Monahan, Shane Dolan,Gareth Corrigan, James Dolan, Brenden Mc Kiernan, Fergal Brady, Dane O’Dowd, Killian Tubman, Darragh Dolan, Donal O’Connor, Enda Fitzpatrick and Philip Fitzpatrick Front: Ryan Connolly, Sean Smith, Gearóid Maguire, John O’Dowd, Conor Lunney, Darragh Brady, Kian Monahan, Gary Tubman, Philip King, Conor Connolly, Francis Lunney, Darragh Seagrave and Donal Reilly. Missing from photo: Luke Longair and Seamus King

While the likes of Ryan Connolly and Gary Tubman have been grabbing headlines – and well-deserved, too – others have also made a big impact, like forward Dara Dolan.
“He broke on to the panel there last year. Underage we wouldn’t have had many boys his age, they would have been amalgamating and the year they joined up with St Joe’s he came on a ton. He just loves the football, he has a bit of speed to him and loves running at defences as well.
“But all the boys have stepped up, anyone who has been asked to do a job has come in and done it. Nobody stands out as such but the job is getting done at the same time. Hopefully they will keep it going and get the job done.”
Monahan, whose brother, centre-back Donal, was a member of the county senior panel this year, is honest in his appraisal of where the Milltown men are at. Battling to avoid the drop while working off a threadbare squad was becoming a chore and relegation, he hints, may have been a blessing in disguise.
“Although we went down and we’re looking to go back up again, it would be nice to win to go back up and not just win a game to stay up,” he says, summing it up succinctly.
“The last two years, six teams have gone down overall and it makes the Junior Championship more exciting and more competitive. Last year when we got relegated we weren’t happy I suppose to be going down to junior but it’s nice to be competing too.
“For a couple of years there at intermediate we had a big fall-off and boys not able to commit to football. We had a lack of numbers and it doesn’t be very exciting when you’re going out just to try to stay up. It’s nice to be competing., to be up there and trying to win something.”
Manager Fintan Reilly has done a fine job with the west Cavan side this season but he will have had no trouble with the modest Monahan, whose genial personality belies his physical stature.
“Fintan has been great from the word go. He came in with his plan and everyone bought into it. Everyone is happy enough and there don’t seem to be any problems in the camp,” concluded Kian.
“Whatever the manager says goes with me anyway, that’s the way I’d be. There’s no point in complaining if you think you have a bad manager but as far as Fintan goes, he’s definitely not a bad one in my eyes anyway.”