Monaghan star Darren Hughes believes his team will finally get the respect they deserve after beating Donegal in the Ulster football final for the second time in three years.
The Farney men emerged with a narrow 0-11 to 0-10 win at the end of a tense Clones contest, with skipper Conor McManus leading by example with a six points haul.
Hughes felt the triumph of two years ago was not given the recognition it warranted, but now Malachy O’Rourke’s side has demanded that the GAA public, and the pundits, sit up and take notice.
“We feel that we didn’t get the credit outside of Monaghan for 2013. Last year they got their revenge, but I think today proves that we’re level par with them, and we’ll take it from here on in,” said Hughes.
“I couldn’t believe it when the final whistle went. I had no idea how long was left, we were just out on our feet at that stage.”
After their opponents went ahead early on, Monaghan found a way to break down Donegal’s famed defensive system, and fired over a string of points to take a 0-8 to 0-4 lead into the interval.
“We got our act together. I suppose last year we lost the game after ten minutes, things didn’t happen and we let Donegal pull away from us, but it was about keeping composed this year.”
Donegal pressed for long stretches of the second half, but poor finishing robbed them of the opportunity to go back in front.
“A lot of it was our own fault, we gave ball away. We got a good enough start with a couple of points, but it was great work in the last 15 minutes from the boys.”
Hughes feels this latest triumph, Monaghan’s 16th in all, is sweeter than the title they win in 2013.
“There’s no doubt about it. I suppose there was a certain level of expectation from the supporters this year.”
Meanwhile Donegal manager Rory Gallagher made no secret of his deep disappointment that his side had failed to lift a fourth provincial title in five seasons.
“We’re disappointed. We came here with high expectations and hoping to put on a performance good enough to win, but we weren’t, and fair play to Monaghan, they were deserving winners in the end,” he said.
Donegal’s poor finishing in the second half, when they hit 11 wides, was their undoing.
“Along with being a wee bit flat in the first half, that’s probably what did disappoint us most. I thought in the second half we had an awful lot of possession and we played a lot of good football, but we missed crucial chances.
“Our second half display was very good, I thought we showed great energy in the second half. But a lot of that is down to Monaghan as well, they played well in the first half, and after we went 3-1 up, they dominated.
“It’s exceptionally disappointing, it’s a big occasion and something that we very much cherish and wanted to win.”