By Niall Gartland

THEY say intercounty football’s a young man’s game, but pacey wing-back Karl O’Connell is delighted to be still lining out for Monaghan at the age of 34.

O’Connell was a relative latecomer to the scene, making his Monaghan debut in his mid-twenties, but he took his opportunity and then some, even winning an All-Star in 2018.

Speaking after Monaghan’s victory over Donegal in last Saturday night’s McKenna Cup Final, the 34 year old said: “I’m still grateful I can do any sports at my age, particularly with all the bad news of the last two years. There’s a good bunch of lads on the team I’ve a great relationship with. It’s admittedly very hard to let go but at the same time I’m very happy to back playing.”

The demands and sacrifices placed on intercounty footballers seems to grow by the year, but at the end of the day, his involvement is entirely voluntary, says O’Connnell.

“There’s a definite change between now and ten or 11 years ago when I started playing for Monaghan.

“You have to look yourself a bit more, but no-one is putting a gun to your head or forcing you to do anything.

“If you want to do this, it puts everything in order. The game is definitely different but I’m happy to go along with that.”

Monaghan enjoyed some glorious days in the last ten years, winning Ulster titles in 2013 and 2015 and reaching an All-Ireland semi-final in 2018 against their forthcoming league opponents Tyrone. Malachy O’Rourke’s exit as manager could’ve been the end of the story, but the transition seems to be going well under Seamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney.

“With Monaghan you get that narrative sometimes, but we try to ignore it and just work on ourselves.2018 seems like a long time ago, but we did well last year and there’s a nice transition there.

“A lot of lads who have been on the panel the last three or four years are really starting to show what they’re capable of, and sometimes it takes that length of time.”

The Farney fended off a late Donegal fightback to pocket some early season silverware at ONeills Healy Park last weekend. That’s where they’ll return this season to face Tyrone, who have been something of a nemesis for Monaghan down the years.

“We’re looking forward to the game. Division One has been good for us and Tyrone are the All-Ireland champions and I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to getting properly started as well.

“They’d a well-deserved break there, obviously the McKenna Cup comes a bit soon for the winners of the big competition. We’ll work on a few things we didn’t do so well against a Donegal and we’re just going to enjoy things.”

For the record, it was the first time Monaghan won the McKenna Cup since 2003 and O’Connell hopes getting the taste of silverware will empower the younger lads on the team.

“I remember 2003 very well. I suppose Monaghan really targeted getting the year off to a good start. We’re at a stage now where we can’t overlook anything and we’re happy to get any sort of silverware.

“The main thing is that we got a few games and winning is contagious.”