If Fermanagh made a sort of breakthrough yesterday, 20 years ago this weekend Monaghan had their day in the sun when they dethroned Down with a shock 0-14 to 0-10 win over Down at Castleblayney. Kieran Finlay "remembers the day like it was yesterday". The Ballybay man began the match on the bench, but was sprung after 20 minutes when a few place-kicks from Brendan Brady went astray. Finlay ended up a five-point contributor to Monaghan's success.
"It was one of the most important matches Monaghan ever played," recalls Finlay. "Sean McCague had taken over in 1976 and we had a good backbone of a team from Ballybay and Scotstown, but that was the real breakthrough and we had some success over the following couple of years."
Of the match itself, Finlay accepts it was physical (see headline on Irish Times match report, May 28th, 1979), but feels that Down made "a lot of it because the didn't really play well".
Monaghan went on to beat Armagh and Donegal on their way to the Ulster title, Finlay scoring 1-9 against Donegal, an Ulster final individual scoring record that stands to this day. Kerry beat them in the All-Ireland semi-final, but before retiring Finlay, a Monaghan panellist since 1973, went on to play in the '85 semi-final when they took Kerry to a replay.
Also 20 Years Ago: Limerick 5-11, Waterford 2-11 - Sean Kilfeather didn't mince his words in his match report when he described Waterford's performance as "sluggish, untidy and disappointing and there can be no excuse that several of their players were not fit".
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