After a 21-year hiatus from the Energia All-Ireland League, Monkstown will make their long-awaited return this weekend as they face a trip down to Cork to face Midleton in their Division 2C opener on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).
It has been a long journey to get back to this point for the south Dublin side, one of the oldest clubs in Ireland, founded just three years after the IRFU’s formation. A journey that was cemented with a hard-fought play-off final win over Bangor late last season.
Suffering a 34-19 loss to City Of Derry on the final day of the 2002/03 season, little did anyone think it would take this long for the Sydney Parade outfit to line out in the league once again.
Fuelled by a new generation of players and an equally ambitious coaching ticket led by Paddy Thornton, Monkstown are ready to make a splash this season.
Speaking at the launch of the new Energia All-Ireland League season at Energia Park, second row Ruadhán McDonnell spoke about the excitement in the club for their return to the senior club ranks.
“There’s a huge buzz around the club now the last year and throughout pre-season, we just can’t wait to get going down to Midleton now away, and hit the ground running and really give it our all,” he said.
“20-odd years is a long time to be away from senior rugby, especially for a club with the history Monkstown has. It is one of the oldest clubs in Ireland, and this current batch of players we have in now are looking forward to writing our own kind of chapter in the club’s history.
“I think anyone that’s seen the Ganly Room in action down in Sydney Parade, after a hard-fought win on a Saturday, will attest that it is one of the best social clubs in the country. Fingers crossed we can get the job done on the pitch this year and enjoy ourselves off it as well.
I am expecting a huge crowd down in Sydney Parade for our first home game (against Bruff). There’s going to be a fantastic buzz around the club. We can see all the ‘alickadoos’ really excited by it now.
“A lot of them coming down even watching training Tuesday-Thursday during pre-season, you can see how much it means to them and how much it means to the lads as well.”
Tries from Cian O’Donoghue and Stephen McVeigh drove Monkstown on to beat Bangor 19-14 in the promotion/relegation play-off final back in April.
A famous day for this historic club and plenty of celebrations on the bus home admits McDonnell, after the players had picked themselves up from the defeat to Ballyclare, in the All-Ireland Provincial League Championship decider, to right a few wrongs just two weeks later.
“We didn’t make things easy for ourselves. Played against Ballyclare in the final of the Provincial League Championship and unfortunately just got pipped at the post, an 81st minute try I think it was,” he explained.
“It just goes to show the small margins at this level can go a long way. Luckily, we had the second chance then against Bangor.
“We got back down Tuesday, Thursday night, fixed our mistakes and thankfully came away with the win. It was a great trip home from Bangor then on the bus. We are looking forward to a few more bus journeys this year.”
Monkstown failed to record a win in their last season in the old Division 3 of All-Ireland League back in the early years of the new century.
They enter a very competitive looking landscape in Division 2C, and while they performed exceptionally well last season, winning the Leinster Junior League Division 1A title, making this latest step up will be a new test for Thornton’s men.
A challenge they are undoubtedly relishing, as many get the taste of All-Ireland league rugby for the very first time. A tricky first round trip to Midelton this weekend is following by the visit of Bruff for their first home tie.
With Omagh Academicals a week later, Monkstown are aiming to start on a positive note as this opening block of fixtures is certainly a testing one.
Recruiting well in the off-season has only helped them in their charge. Kieran Stokes has rejoined the club from Sunday’s Well, while Rob Wynne joins having had spells with both Naas and Clonmel.
Former Ireland Under-20 international Fergal Cleary is another exciting player joining Monkstown’s squad. Having come through the ranks at Clongowes Wood College, Lansdowne, and Leinster, he brings a good deal of experience to the team.
Also joining this year are Oisin Brady, Luke Kelly, James Sullivan, Jack Tully, Mark Higgins, Liam Barry. Ben Murphy, Aaron Davis, Niall Carney, and Jim O’Shea, who has returned to the club.
Now in his second year at the helm, head coach Thornton is very much looking to build on last season. His coaching team includes Sean O’Brien, the Connacht back rower who retired on medical grounds in 2021, Danny O’Riordan, and Derek ‘Babs’ Dowling.
McDonnell heaped praise on the Thornton-led coaching group, and is also fully aware of the trials and tribulations that could lie ahead on Monkstown’s return to the All-Ireland League.
The league is a marathon, not a sprint. We are just going to take it game by game, block by block, and right now just focus on Midleton away.
“We’ve had a really good pre-season, developed a bit of squad depth. We had a bit of recruitment this year. The coaching set-up is second to none, we have Sean O’Brien coming back from a professional set-up, Danny Riordan as well.
“‘Babs’ is scrum coach, he is well renowned around the place, he is a good Mary’s man. And then leading the charge is Paddy Thornton as well.
“Paddy came in last year and he has just raised the bar altogether. The club is in a really good place and really looking forward to get going now,” he added.
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