Issue link: http://digitaleditions.uberflip.com/i/1322152
34 | WINTER 2020 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie Ciarán Murphy thinks his Monaghan squad has the ability to kick on to a successful 2021. By Declan Rooney FEATURE A one-point win over Tipperary and a couple of two-point losses to Galway and Armagh means Monaghan ended 2020 without silverware, but their manager Ciarán Murphy thinks his squad has the ability to kick on to a successful 2021. Defeat to Armagh in the Ulster Final in the second weekend of December was a tough way to sign off such a positive season for Monaghan, but despite a disappointing end to a fractured year, Murphy thinks his side is on the right track. That win against Tipp meant they entered their Senior Championship Group 2 encounter with Galway at Carrick-on-Shannon with massive confidence, but after Monaghan's brave comeback, last year's All- Ireland finalists staggered over the finishing line with a slender win. But it is in the recent graduates to the Senior team that Murphy sees so much potential. Under the management of former county stars Niamh Kindlon and Fiona Kindlon, Monaghan finished runners up in the 2019 All-Ireland U14 Gold Final, while the county's Minors – managed by former Senior boss Paula Cunningham – also finished runners- up in the A Championship. Before this year's competition was pulled, there was great hope that those teams could go one step better, but because their championship didn't take place, Murphy seized the chance to hasten the minor's progress to his squad, and he has been blown away by their adaptation to the grade. "We got a good panel together, a wee bit more luck at different times and we could have went that little bit further in the two competitions. It was a positive year, but looking back we'll look at how we let it slip," said Murphy, who took charge in 2020 from Niall Treanor. "We got a few players back this year and then we brought in a few of the Minor team that got to the All-Ireland last year. Jennifer Duffy, the Garlands – Lauren and Amy – Eimear Traynor, Michaela Linden, Jane Duffy, Jane Drury, a few players like that. I'd say we have eight or nine of that minor team in with us now. "Against Armagh in the Ulster Final, we used six of them. It's a good blend there now. We have the older girls who are still this side of 30 and we have got the youth coming through as well. When you put the two of them together, it's a good blend. "The great thing is that nobody in that team would be 100 per cent of their place now with what's coming behind them, which is brilliant. The hardest part we have as a management team is picking the team. It's very difficult." Two of those more experienced players that Murphy is leaning on to guide the teenagers into his team are Ellen McCarron and Ciara McAnespie. Both players have played in three All- Ireland Senior finals in 2008, 2011 and 2013, but are still driven to win their first All-Ireland medal. According to Ellen, she relied heavily on her well-decorated colleagues when she started and she is keen to play the same role for the next generation now. "I made my debut back in 2008. Monaghan had gotten to the All-