All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round Three: Keith Duggantalks to former Monaghan player Stephen McGinnitty about the 1995 tie with Donegal

The heat wave of 1995 encouraged a mood of optimism when Monaghan came to visit Donegal in Ballybofey in July. The county were regarded as a dimming force, certainly in comparison to their regal predecessors of the 1980s, who swept to two Ulster titles in four seasons and might well have starred in an All-Ireland final. Four weeks earlier, Donegal had dumped Down, the All-Ireland champions, out of the competition 1-12 to 0-9 points. The match against Monaghan, an Ulster quarter-final, was regarded as little more than a formality.

"That day is a good memory," says Stephen McGinnitty, before adding sardonically, "one of the few of my time with Monaghan." McGinnitty played minor with Monaghan in 1988, the last great shout by the team put together by Seán McCague. The Drumhowan man made his championship debut two summers later as Monaghan recorded a 3-17 to 0-8 win over Antrim. His was supposed to be the generation to keep the success alive but it didn't work out like that. The old boys cleared out and it took a couple of seasons and a succession of managers before Monaghan could adapt to the realpolitik of Ulster championship. Mick McCormack, the Longford football man, was in charge in 1995 and that day things clicked. "We got a slippery auld goal early on and to be honest, Donegal never caught us," says McGinnitty.

The four weeks between the Down victory and the Monaghan match had done Donegal no good. The previous season, Brian McEniff had stepped down after an Ulster championship exit to Tyrone. PJ McGowan, the All-Ireland winning under-21 manager, had been appointed his successor after beating Martin McHugh in a vote, guided Donegal to a National League final (which was lost to Derry) before strategising the sacking of Down.

Several of the 1992 All-Ireland winners were in place as well as a younger generation of players like John Duffy, Mark McShane and Mark Crossan. In the build-up to the Monaghan game, there was word of a dispute between senior players and the county board, with one rumour circulating that the team was set to wear their jerseys backwards in protest. "We had heard that talk," remembers McGinnity, "but we just paid attention to our own game."

Donegal were not doing that. That Monaghan game turned out to be Martin Gavigan's swansong with Donegal. It was a dispiriting exit note. "We went to Heaney's on the Thursday before the game and boys went all over the town to watch the rugby for an hour - the All-Blacks were playing," he remembered in, Sam's For The Hills (2003). "There wasn't the right focus. Players thought that Monaghan was going to be a doddle compared to Down. I was disappointed with the whole set-up."

From the beginning, Monaghan carved Donegal up through every line. One of the star turns of the day was a young centre-half back with long hair. Joe Coyle became known as "The Pony-Tail Defender" and all afternoon, he kept James McHugh on the back foot. Declan Smith was in strong form and David King, the full back, kept Tony Boyle under wraps. McGinnity can't recall who was marking him. "I know Matt (Gallagher) and big John Joe (Doherty) were both swinging lumps out of me . . . I think the Donegal lads were shocked. They couldn't believe they had lost it, they were out. Of course, we went off and celebrated like we had won an Ulster championship."

Monaghan repeated Donegal's mistake. They partied to honour a notable scalp. In the semi-final, against Cavan, they had 18 wides, missed a penalty and lost. "That defeat was the ruination of that team," sighs McGinnitty. King never played for Monaghan again, emigrating to Australia shortly afterwards. Other young players became disillusioned, were dropped or dropped themselves. Coyle studied law and turned to soccer. McGinnity played until 1990 and although he is proud of the experience, the overall sensation was of frustration. He won an All-Ireland B title with the county in the late 1990s but always felt Monaghan were of higher class than that. Donegal was the last championship match Monaghan would win in the decade.

McGinnitty played championship football for 10 years and won just twice. "There were years there when Monaghan was a top 12 to 16 team and we couldn't get on a roll. We had the players in those years but it was just so hard to make an impact in Ulster."

In 1995, they made that impact, then blew it. Neither Monaghan nor Donegal have won an Ulster title since. If that 1995 clash is mentioned in Omagh this evening, it will be as a reminder of what could have been. They say there are seven million stories in the Naked City: the same is true of Ulster football. Monaghan v Donegal in 1995 was just one. Tonight the counties meet with a place in the last eight there for the taking.