Experience and composure key in Portumna’s path to the final

You would have nothing but admiration for an individual like Portumna selector Michael Monaghan – a man who has given decades of selfless service to his club, as both player and mentor, without fear or favour.

In 1995, he was at the managerial helm when Portumna contested their first county senior championship final – a 0-17 to 1-9 defeat to the great Sarsfields team – and, while that was no doubt disappointing, he was again in the manager’s hot-seat when the club claimed that elusive title in 2003.

Now back as a selector under boss Frank Canning, you’d wonder what prompted Monaghan to return to the rigours of a senior management set-up two decades after he first became involved. “I suppose it is like everything else. I had a few years off and, when you have that, you get the interest back.

“Frankie then was on to give him a hand and I said I would come in. If you can do something, you do it. And if you can’t, you can’t. It has worked out anyway so far,” says Monaghan, who although he had worked with a large number of the squad previously, is still surprised by their desire to succeed.

“I would say there are nine or 10 of the first 15 that was there back in 2003 and it is a testament to them that they are still there over 10 years later. Sure, look it, they have always gone out to do their best and I suppose they probably thought they would get a bit more out of it and maybe just got caught at times.”

Although the roll of honour for the majority of this team includes six county titles and three All-Ireland club crowns, Monaghan’s assertion that “they thought they would get a bit more out of it” is not made in a manner that is boastful or condescending.

It is just the way they think in Portumna these days. It’s a winning mentality. They don’t lightly settle for second best. It is what has separated them from the rest of the pack locally and nationally for over a decade. Two other key ingredients Monaghan throws in, at least in this campaign, are experience and composure.

“The Na Piarsaigh game, looking back on it, they could have got the first goal but they didn’t and we were 1-2 up then before they scored. I would say that comes down to experience and it has stood to us. You look at our lads and they have that much more experience and that probably got us over the line in that game.”

Indeed, Monaghan believes it was also this experience and composure that enabled them to successfully negotiate their way through the Galway championship – particularly against Ardrahan, St Thomas’ and Loughrea in the knockout stages.

“I think the bit of composure showed in the Galway championship, especially against Thomas’ and Ardrahan. Ardrahan could have beaten us given we were level at full-time and we still were able to get the point to win it.

“In previous years, a bit of panic might have set in our side but when you have the likes of Ollie [Canning] and [Eugene] McEntee and Niall Hayes and lads like that they are able to keep things cool and calm,” he notes.

And yet, Monaghan is reluctant to place too much stock in these attributes heading into an All-Ireland final showdown against Carlow and Leinster champions Mount Leinster Rangers.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune