Fintan Kelly
By John Harrington
Monaghan’s victory over Kerry in Killarney on Sunday could hardly be labelled as a seismic shock considering they also turned over the Kingdom in the League two years ago in Austin Stack Park, Tralee.
It’s still a serious achievement though for a county that arguably punches above its weight like no other when you consider Monaghan has the fourth smallest population in Ireland.
Every coach will tell you the key to unlocking your potential is to work ferociously hard, and that’s exactly what this Monaghan side does.
They ground Kerry down with their relentless intensity and complemented that ethic with enough quality to get the job done.
“We just have a good attitude about the whole thing,” Monaghan defender Fintan Kelly told GAA.ie.
“It's a hard-working team. Obviously there's a lot of skillful players in it, but it's not filled with out and out skillful footballer, it's just a hard-working team.
“That attitude was there as far back as when Banty was in charge of the team. I remember watching him and they were a hard-working, honest team. Physical and just no-nonsense.
“I suppose that's transferred on to us. It's the first thing you have to get right in a football game - hard work - and I think that's been our mantra. If you can work harder than the other team you can wear them down and get ahead of them.
“I suppose we have a small population, but we're a well-run county in the background as well.”
It’s a testament to the efforts of Kelly and his colleagues in the Monaghan full-back line, Ryan and Drew Wylie, that Kerry’s much vaunted inside-forward line of Paul Geaney, James O’Donoghue, and Jack Savage failed to score a single point from play.
The powerfully-built Wylie brothers knocked around Kerry men like skittles at times, and Kelly admits it’s a pleasure to play alongside two such driven performers.
"Yeah, they're two competitive men,” he says. “They're very, very good. If you got the two boys playing table-tennis they'd be just as competitive playing it! They're two serious operators in fairness to them and it's very nice to be playing alongside them.
“They're at the top of their game at the minute and you take inspiration from playing alongside them and just try to be as good as them.”
Gavin Doogan scored a goal for Monaghan in Killarney,
Monaghan have been very reliant on Conor McManus in recent years to do the bulk of their scoring, but there was a more balanced look to their attack on Sunday.
Gavin Doogan and Jack McCarron scored 2-2 from play between one another, and bring a nice mix of attributes to the Monaghan forward-line.
Doogan is a relentless worker in the half-forward line who gets on a huge amount of ball, and McCarron is a very classy finisher from all sorts of ranges.
Both have been hampered by serious injuries in recent years, and if Monaghan can keep them fit they’ll add considerably to the cause.
“In fairness to Gavin he's had a tough few years with injuries so it's great to see him getting a run of it,” says Kelly.
“He's a seriously hard worker. He's a serious team player to have there. You know you're going to get 100 per cent from him. He leaves nothing on the field.
“Jack is a lovely footballer. If we can keep him fit it would be great. The same as Gavin, he's had a tough few years so it's good to see him out there as well.
“He's torn his cruciate, I think he broke a bone in his ankle or tore ligaments in it and he did his shoulder as well so he's been well riddled.”
Monaghan are sitting pretty at the top of Division 1, but Kelly knows all too well they can’t afford to pat themselves on the back with a match away to Tyrone in Healy Park coming up this weekend.
“Yeah, it doesn't count for anything going into a game like this,” he says. “It's all on the day when you're playing Tyrone. It's always a ding-dong battle between us two. There's good history between us.
“They've had the upper hand on us, if truth be told. So we're all looking forward to it. It's going to be a good battle. We're top of the table, but it doesn't count for anything when you go up to Healy Park.
“You're going to have to earn your standing up there. But we're looking forward to it, it's going to be a good battle and a tight encounter hopefully.”
