11 August 1985: All-Ireland semi-final
– Kerry 1-12 2-9 Monaghan
25 August 1985 : All-Ireland semi-final replay
– Kerry 2-9 0-10 Monaghan
Kerry would go on to beat Dublin and land Sam number 29.
29 more than Monaghan, who miss out on a first All-Ireland final since 1930 and only a second showpiece ever. Days like these are few and far between.
Close. No cigar:
“The unfortunate thing is we knew about the great Kerry team. Some players didn’t have the belief we could actually win it. They were waiting for the onslaught but it didn’t come,” said Eugene ‘Nudie’ Hughes, reflecting on the Ulster champions’ Titanic battles with the Kingdom in 1985
“Davy Byrne was having the game of his life. And Hugo (Clerkin).
“Davy was lording everything and Hugo was controlling Jacko (O’Sé, soon to be Footballer of the Year 1985).
“Davy had to go off with a dead leg before half time. The game changed drastically after that.
“I was playing fairly well. I got the first score of the game on Páidí (Ó Sé).
“Davy knew to get the ball into me. I said: ‘He’ll not beat me to a ball once the ball is given first’.
“We played well but Kerry came into it. A few passes went astray and they punished us.”
Kerry, the beast Monaghan have never slayed in Championship football.
In 1985, a draw in the All-Ireland semi-final made superstars out of Eugene Hughes, Hugo Clerkin, Paddy Linden, Eamon McEneaney and more.
Monaghan’s story was one of belief then. Hughes’ still is. A storybook as thick as Ulysses but dashed with wisdom and wit and immense likeability. His energy knows no bounds.
It’s page turning, gripping, even now, when he’s been handed every excuse under the sun to tell the world he’s had enough.
He wasn’t built that way. He isn’t wired to ever doubt himself. Everything is certainty:
“When you pull on a jersey, a club jersey or county, you are the best player on the field. You will dictate the game.
“And there’s only one ball. There’s not two or three balls.
“He’s human. You win your battle and then you encourage other players.
“There’s no doubt about it, if you’re up against the might of Kerry, or the Dublin team of the present moment, you have to feel you’re better than them.
“You’ve to win your own battle first of all, but you have to encourage the boys with you.
“When the ball was kicked into Eamon Murphy I used to say: ‘I’ll be beside you. Don’t you worry’.
“I used to have a code for him to knock the ball down, he could palm it down to me and Ray McCarron’s job was to come off my shoulder and he’d put the ball over the bar.
“That’s belief. It’s not just yourself.”
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Sitting in Concra Wood golf course, his face is all around. The Nudie Hughes Club Classic is nearly underway.
Two cups of tea, and the finest view there is in all of Castleblayney town. From up here, it’s hard to picture anything but a God overlooking his kingdom and his people.
This was never going to be an interview. The confidence hums out of him before we even begin. Even the process of beginning is a challenge. Everyone wants to talk to Nudie Hughes.
He looks healthy. He smiles, he chats, he laughs.
You don’t have to poke or prod. Nudie doesn’t speak. He flows.
Even as he tells of the warts, the hides that cover him from head to toe. The cuts on his feet that would reduce many to a bit-part player in the game of life, but never Nudie.
Trips to the Mater Hospital, to London town, even Portugal, but always back to ‘Blayney town and where it all began. What originated as colon cancer in 2018 has recently reached his lungs, for the first time.
There’s good news and then there’s bad news. That’s torturous in itself. A never ending rollercoaster. The inconsistency must drive a sportsman mad.
One tumour tripled in size in the space of a month. That led to laser treatment in Oxford. The socialising has been curtailed.
As he says himself, “there’s only one ball” in this life. The days on which it’s deflated are few and far between, a testament to the three-time All-Star as a man.
Even on the rare bad days, it’s Nudie out in front, cancer lagging behind, tugging out of him, trying to restrict his brilliance, and failing.
Last summer, it was red wine with Declan Bogue. This time no more.
Gin and tonic would be the less damaging preference, but it’s only 11:30am, and there’s golf to be played. Tea so.
The phone rings and he sparks into life, raving about the condition of the course, almost overcome with anticipation ahead of the big event.
Towards the end he tells me how he only uses the phone to answer calls, more often than not returning the ones he’s missed.
If people need you badly enough, they’ll find you. Family comes first. Time is precious for all of us, but we don’t all understand it. Not properly.
The football chat starts and he is at ease again. The eyes are lit up.
Sport isn’t life or death, but what is life without it?
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Castleblayney’s relegation from senior football last year was their first ever. “Hurtful” is the word used.
For the Faughs, this year presents the challenge of the Intermediate division – a well renowned dogfight – described by a man who knows the very essence of a battle, footballing or otherwise:
“That’s life, you can’t wish yourself out of it. You have to play yourself through it.
“It’s a minefield. You can’t pick and choose your games, you have to go all out for every game.”
Back in 1985, Monaghan did just that. The might of Kerry, reduced to a trivial 1-1 in a first-half of football dominated by the Anglo-Celt holders.
The Evening Press described Monaghan as the best Ulster side since Donegal in 1972. Their support “seemed to make up nine-tenths of the 22,000 officially present”.
The local paper, The Northern Standard, summated the growing consensus that the league champions of that same year of ‘85 were now a force to be reckoned with:
“Our team is young with a great reserve strength and we are no longer prepared to be classed as a Cinderella county.”
Huge strides from the 5-14 0-07 whipping against the same opponents back in 1979.
A draw, a replay, but a lost opportunity too:
“There was a myth about Kerry being fitter than we were. We were as fit as them, but they knew what to do with the ball all the time.
“We trained, actually very hard, the week after it – which we shouldn’t have. It’s like everything, you learn as you progress, you learn from other teams.
“We lost Davy (Byrne) and that was a big blow to us after controlling midfield.
“Players sorta said: ‘Well, Kerry don’t lose too many replays’. That gets into their mind.
“Do I have regrets? No. But what I would have liked was to get to an All-Ireland final just to see how we would have gone on the day.”
Nudie feels there were men in white that didn’t fully believe. You can be certain he wasn’t among them.
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Darren Hughes won’t play against Kerry, nor brother Kieran, nor Conor Boyle, nor Drew Wylie, nor Niall Kearns.
A multitude of reasons for unavailability band them together, but they all rest where the Venn diagram of power and size intersect.
So, are Monaghan too small?:
“The full-back line have been exposed. Cavan exposed them with pace and physicality. We seem to struggle with big men that can play football.
“Killian Lavelle reads the game well, but you’re lacking a bit of power without Darren (Hughes), without Kieran (Hughes), without (Drew) Wylie.
“We’re also struggling to score goals. The forward line are too defensive, and apart from Conor (McManus) and Jack (McCarron) they’re all my size!
“When Monaghan played Dublin (2023 All-Ireland semi-final), the ball was given long and early.
“No solo, no nothing. We were out in front.
“We need a presence at full-forward. Gary Mohan, in on the square, with Conor McManus coming off him.
“Gary can’t end up 40 yards from goal. He might get one point out there. Your job is inside 20 yards.”
With Jason Foley only back from injury and Kerry rotating their goalkeepers, that could prove a worthwhile approach. As a former 200 metre sprinter, Foley won’t be caught out for pace too easily. High ball, you heard it here first.
So do The Farney have a chance in the eyes of one of their greatest ever?:
“No question, it’s a formidable task, but Kerry are not invincible.
“If Monaghan go in believing that…well, they have to. They have to believe that. If you don’t win your first game, the pressure is on.
“Louth will fancy us big time. Make no mistake, missing out on the Monaghan job will be a huge incentive for Ger Brennan.
“Look, we have a great chance.”
“Well we have a good chance, not a great chance. We have a chance, but we need to play very well.”
That hesitation is rare, perhaps ominous. Foreboding.
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Saturday presents what may turn out to be Conor McManus’ final crack at The Kingdom.
Failing to defeat them in Championship football won’t taint his legacy. That is long since secured. The final engraving has already been carved in Monaghan’s Mount Rushmore.
So where does a former great rank the current talisman?:
“He’d get into our team, no doubt about it.
“People compare Conor and I. Two different eras. Two different styles of play.
“I was a playmaker, could score left and right. Conor’s improved the left an awful lot and he’s started to bring players into the game.
“I was lucky. My main job was to win the ball, get the free. Everything was one on one. When I got by a man, I’d lay the ball off. That was our game plan, very simple, very effective.”
Simple, effective, but not something from a bygone era. Monaghan proved that against Dublin last year for 60-odd minutes, against all the odds.
Against all the odds. A running theme. ‘85 and 2024.
But few are more suited to the challenge. Monaghan live for these days.
It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, but you have to believe.
Just ask Nudie Hughes.
