Conor McManus already looking ahead to quarter-final test

The very fact that Conor McManus was in Killarney early yesterday morning, looking so healthy and fresh, is surely some reflection of how Monaghan are celebrating their latest Ulster football triumph.

Two years ago, when they also beat Donegal in the final, Monaghan took the Anglo Celt Cup on a celebratory tour of the county, and some players, it was suggested, got a little lost in the hype along the way.

Only this time it’s different, as McManus explains, less than 48 hours after playing such a vital role in making it Monaghan’s day.

An outburst

“It was definitely a bit different then,” he says. “After winning in 2013, with Monaghan having waited so long, there was probably an outburst of emotion in the whole county, after finally getting over the line. Being what it was, waiting 25 years, you could understand why there was a will and a want to go around the towns.

“This time around it is done now. We’re just refocusing, and look forward from here.

“And this time there was also probably a level of expectation going into the final, and especially going into the Ulster championship. People expected us to make a final. We couldn’t look past any our games. But being there, and winning it, there was a sense of satisfaction, because we had to give a big performance. . .”

Still, it was impossible not to hear plenty of Monaghan supporters chanting for “Sam” in the immediate of Sunday’s victory of Clones: McManus heard them alright, but admits that’s all part of the process.

“You can’t control that or what your fans or anyone says. All we can do is focus on our job and that focusing on a quarter-final, in three weeks time. Because s. All we can do is focus on training and try and get the best out of ourselves.”

They’ll be playing either Tyrone or Sligo, and it was Tyrone who took them out in 2013; since then, questions have been raised about Monaghan’s ability to deliver a big performance in Croke Park, although McManus is unconcerned.

“ Okay, we lost a quarter- final there in 2013, in a game we should have won, so I don’t think Croke Park had anything to do with it.”