The clones lie silent today as the sound of summer must wait

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This weekend the Championship was to begin in earnest with 11 provincial games scheduled to take place.

RTÉ Sport is examining some of these matches and their potential participants in greater detail.

Damian Lawlor celebrates Clones’ special place in the GAA and how Cavan-Monaghan would have announced the start of an Irish summer this afternoon

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The first steps on what both teams, Monaghan and Cavan, hoped would be a long journey, were to be taken this afternoon in Clones.

If a tourist stopped you anywhere on earth, looking to soak up what the GAA is really about, you might as well point them to Clones or Thurles on a summer day. The sun was shining, the plaza and the diamonds were boiling, the music crackled and the streets were splashed with color.

These are stadiums that don’t owe anyone anything, they both probably need a little TLC, but they’re still picturesque.

The clones’ central location in Ulster, which is less than two hours away from any other county in the province, has made it a true backyard for other teams. A stop at the Diamond and then down Fermanagh Street. Burger and fry vans do the town trade and empty glasses of cider on window sills.

The venue has witnessed many modern wonders, especially when Arlene Foster became the first leader of the Democratic Unionist Party to attend the Ulster final at the stadium two years ago. Mrs. Foster also received a joy of always, when she took her place to see Fermanagh face Donegal at the provincial show.

The game itself was easy enough to forget, except for Murphy, McHugh and McBrearty who activated it in the second half, but it hardly mattered. The occasion was special, the warm weather and the crowded place.

This Sunday, the preliminary round of Ulster SFC between Monaghan and Cavan was a sure sign that summer had finally come.

It would have been a battle from the beginning.

Monaghan was under the watch of Seamus McEnaney once again, they had a high-powered team, a healthy influx of exciting young players, and a cohort of established footballers who had already established the county as one of the best in the country. As the Allianz League drifted to a conclusion, they were sixth in Division One with five points, but they could easily have had another brace in the bag.

Cavan drove well. They ranked third in Division Two when Covid-19 halted the entire season. They had worked hard to earn six points and placed just one behind joint leaders Armagh and Roscommon. If they had won their last two games against Kildare and the ‘Rossies, they could have been promoted. There was plenty to play for even before Sunday’s postponed game drew near.

Last year’s meeting between neighbors was exciting with Cavan showing more vigor on the day.

Would that result have been reversed this time? While they hadn’t found their best team this season, Monaghan had still scored 4-67 in five league games and averaged around 16 points per game.

Just one level down, they dig 7-46 in their five outings, reaching around 14 points each outing. Everything was for playing. The terrain would have been rough, the game brisk, and Clones would have been jumping.

Seamus McEnaney eagerly awaited the renewal of the ‘Old Firm’ rivalry of Monaghan and Cavan

“The main thing now is that everyone stays healthy and nothing else matters,” says McEnaney. “But from a soccer perspective, yes, this game would mean a lot to the people of Monaghan and Cavan.”

“I live in Shercock, a mile from the border, and the rivalry is immense. It’s like the Old Firm derby when counties play.”

“It means a lot to the Clones people as well, to the city, and we know that everyone would love to support the games again. The business the game would have generated from the city to Cavan afterwards would have had has been huge. The clones need these great games and hopefully they will be played in some format at some point, but health comes first. “

“I think this break really does dictate what the GAA means to all of us,” adds McEnaney.

It is a difficult time for everyone at this time. People have not seen their families in two months and are afraid for their loved ones. For those who work on the front line, there are more concerns to take on each day.

From a sports perspective, GAA is trying to join communities, help the vulnerable, and keep their spirits up. They also have jobs to protect and without generating income, that’s a challenge.

Sunday would have been a great help to the Ulster Council, which spent the past two months trying to safeguard the jobs and planning of all scenarios.

They would have received 1.6 million euros in entrance receipts for the entire provincial championship, and a total of 2.6 million euros if commercial income is taken into account in addition to that. Crucially, 50% of that revenue would have been redistributed to Ulster counties and clubs.

And the premiere scheduled for this weekend on May 10, with a crowd of more than 15,000 expected, would have been a great start for everyone involved.

“These are uncertain times, we all have family to take care of and we all face the same problem,” Ulster PRO Declan Woods recently told RTÉ Sport.

“None of us know what is going to happen or how long this will last and, from a sporting point of view, we cannot give definitive guidelines to members and supporters. We are all strictly enforcing the regulations but we are trying to plan and look to ahead is desperately difficult.

Field invader halts action at last year’s Ulster SFC matchup between big rivals

“Monaghan and Cavan would have been a great game. Stores in Clones would be full, restaurants, pubs, shops, local bus companies would have benefited. So too would sports stores selling replica jerseys.”

“But it would have been the emotion that such a game generates. I know that sport is not the whole and the end and I am fully aware of the worrying times we have and what people are going through, but our games are a great launch too .

“If you moved in and talked to people, which of course you can’t do right now, the topic of conversation would have been Cavan and Monaghan, who were injured and what the team would be.”

Currently, it is a different scenario. Clones has seen many great days. We won’t get one this weekend, but there is always the promise of brighter days to come.

For now, that will have to be done.



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