LAURA MCENANEY’S PHONE was ablaze with messages when she came back into the dressing room in Parnell Park last Friday night.
They were in pouring in from WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and beyond from people of all levels of interest in GAA matters. Monaghan had just dumped an emerging Tipperary side out of the All-Ireland senior ladies championship to close in on spot in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
To some, it was a shock result. All-Ireland intermediate champions Tipp are quickly becoming a force in the top tier, while Monaghan have struggled to catch fire in recent years.
Alhough Monaghan have a long tradition of being competitive at senior level, McEnaney could understand where the surprised reaction came from.
She points out that the Ulster outfit are now a Division 2 side, while their senior championship status was almost taken from them last year. They needed a relegation play-off victory over Westmeath to avoid the drop to intermediate.
But within the Monaghan camp, they felt they could still compete at this level. And they showed their teeth against Tipperary live on TV.
“I don’t think many people expected Monaghan to overcome it to be honest,” says McEnaney.
“And we had just an okay league campaign, so I think it sort of did take everybody by surprise but I suppose in our tight-knit circle, we believed that we could beat them.
“And I feel like over the last two years, Monaghan has been going through a transition and a lot of our older players have stepped away from the panel. And some of them were All-Stars and to replace them is very difficult.
“But some of our new girls have been doing really well and have brought new energy to the set-up and I think, there’s still a nice balance there.”
The decision to televise some of the games from this year’s championship has proven to be a masterstroke by the LGFA and the competition sponsors, TG4.
It puts the matches under a spotlight that they wouldn’t normally get during a regular season. And the fact that ladies football has attracted more exposure without the use of double-headers alongside men’s games is certainly a positive development.
In the current Covid-19 climate, the association spotted a gap in the market on Friday nights and made their games the only show in town.
“People who would have only a small interest in football [were watching],” says McEnaney, “but I suppose, especially in these times, there is nothing else to do.
Everybody is in front of the TV on the couch and it was absolutely fantastic to see so many people tuning in to watch the match, it was great.
“It’s been absolutely brilliant. You finish your week’s work, you prep for your game and then once it’s played, [you're] done for the weekend. I think it’s definitely something to look at going forward. And even club-wise as well, you can’t beat a Friday evening game and then you have your weekend free.”
The outcome of the game caused a stir on social media, particularly a refereeing call late in the game. With just one point separating the sides, Tipperary forward Aisling Moloney fetched the ball in a dangerous position.
Ouch! Cic saor bronnta ar @Monaghan_LGFA
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) November 6, 2020
McEneaney gets caught in a Tipp sandwich here 🥪#ProperFan #20x20 #GAABEO #PeilnamBan@LadiesFootball @20x20_ie @GAA_BEO pic.twitter.com/Hsi86ftUXQ
But before she could try to engineer a score, a free out was awarded and Monaghan’s victory was secured.
McEnaney concedes that it was a controversial decision, but adds that Monaghan were left short-changed by a call shortly before that when key forward Ellen McCarron was sin-binned.
“I suppose you could look at it, a lot of Tipperary people were disappointed and disheartened by it.
“But you could look at it in another way, we had a player sin-binned prior to that and no doubt Ellen would have chipped in with another one or two points. Unfortunately, it was in the wrong because the referee had warned number 11 on the Tipp team five minutes before that that she’d be off after one more tackle.
But unfortunately, he got mixed up between the two number 11s and that call went against us. The Moloney call went against Tipp so in my opinion, it balanced itself out. Some days those decisions go with you and some days they just don’t.”
McEnaney is back in the Monaghan fold having taken some time off from inter-county football. Three years ago, she felt the pull of the traveller’s bug and headed off for Thailand and Vietnam.
She decided not to play county football either last year.
The Corduff player made her debut with Monaghan back in 2009, and was part of the Monaghan outfits that reached All-Ireland finals in 2011 and 2013. Unfortunately, Monaghan’s peak crossed over with a Cork juggernaut that torched a path through ladies football during that decade.
“I just felt that I wanted to go travelling,” McEnaney explains, “I wanted to see the world and I just made my decision at the start of the year. I wasn’t half in, half out. I made my decision, I let management know and I took a step back from it.
I’m especially thankful for football at the minute, I suppose I’m one of the lucky people that gets to play. All the club football is cancelled, so every day that I get to go out onto the pitch, I am extremely grateful.”
Sport is a big part of McEnaney’s working life too. A PE teacher at the Holy Family School in Cootehill, McEnaney works with special needs students of all different ranges of ability.
It’s a big primary school with 165 students coming from the Cavan and Monaghan area. There’s over 80 members of staff as well, with a new school currently under construction.
McEnaney is doing a job share at the moment to balance her time between school, caring for her granny and working on a Masters in Educational Management and Leadership.
“I really enjoy the school, there’s kids from all different ability levels from moderate to severe and profound so I suppose you just have to try and be creative, and inclusive as much as possible. So this is my sixth year there.
“I sort of started out only doing a year and I said, ‘I’ll see how it goes.’ I came in straight out of college. I did an interview and got offered the job. So it was a massive challenge at the start because I had studied just PE in DCU, and I hadn’t really specialised in Special Needs. It was a big change but a change I took on.
With little to no teaching experience of working with special needs students, McEnaney says being “creative and inclusive” is a major part of her approach to this very rewarding job.
It’s small steps at times, but it’s the small little victories that are the best. I just feel like teaching in a special needs school, the kids appreciate and enjoy any little thing. You’re using all kinds of equipment. Sometimes in mainstream and secondary schools, kids can take things for granted, so I think it’s lovely to see the small little victories you get.
“Sometimes it takes longer than you think to achieve those little goals, but when you do get there, there’s such a sense of achievement.”
Plenty of schools have had Covid-19 cases since the new term began, and unfortunately for those attending the Holy Family, they have also been affected.
McEnaney stresses that such an outcome was “inevitable,” given the large number of people coming to the school everyday.
“Thank God, at the minute, we don’t have any more cases.
“The board of management and senior management have been so supportive. There’s really good procedures in place and everybody is working inside their pods and everyone has scheduled toilet breaks. All that is working really well.”
McEnaney got engaged to her boyfriend Joseph during lockdown, at a time when the restrictions had eased enough for them to travel to Achill where he popped the question. Her family was able to head out west as well to celebrate the proposal.
The lockdown has tightened once since then and many workers are still operating from home during this period. McEnaney knows how fortunate she is to be able to head out every day to teach her students.
“You wake up every morning and you are thankful that you are able to get out of the house. I think I’d crack up if I had to stay home so I am grateful. The parents do need a break. It is tough on parents to have kids at home 24/7. I think it’s a win-win for everyone and everyone is happy to be back.”
Monaghan don’t have long to wait for that chance at nabbing a spot in the All-Ireland semi-finals. And another tough assignment awaits them in the hunt for that place.
Galway reached the All-Ireland decider last year, where they lost out narrowly to Dublin in torrential rain at Croke Park.
That being said, they only edged out Tipperary by one point which bodes well for a Monaghan side who won by the same margin.
All will be revealed at Parnell Park this Sunday afternoon [throw-in, 1pm].
“Just like going into the Tipp game,” McEnaney says, “we know we have a massive battle on our hands. Galway do not have a weak position on the field, they’re strong all over. They’re a very skilful, composed team but we’re going to give it everything.
“We went into the Tipperary game and said, ‘we’re just going to throw everything at this, literally everything out on the field.’ Galway is going to be no different, we’ll focus on ourselves, what we do well and hopefully it’ll be enough to overcome Galway.
We’re going in as underdogs. They’re in the top two counties in Ireland. So, listen, we’re underdogs but we’re going to give it a real good battle and we won’t go down too easily.”
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