FOR THE SIXTH YEAR in a row, Donegal will walk behind the St Michael’s Enniskillen Scout Band on Ulster final Sunday after an enthralling win over Monaghan.
Donegal 0-17 Monaghan 2-10
In a gripping replay win over Monaghan at Kingspan Breffni Park, Donegal had the edge and might have been more comfortable had they not conceded two first-half goals.
Rory Gallagher’s team dug deep to win and staved off a strong Monaghan comeback in the closing chapter when the fingernails of the Donegal faithful were considerably shortened.
Michael Murphy scored five points, all of them from placed balls, as Donegal wore Monaghan down and score what could perhaps be considered the biggest win of the Rory Gallagher era.
It was only Donegal’s second win over the Farney men in the Championship since 1983 and it means Donegal are the first side since Down in the 1960s to reach six finals in a row.
Rory Kavanagh was sent off four minutes from the end of another draining installment of this battle, which went right to the very last sinew.
Donegal had so much to sing about, but their loudest note came from Martin O’Reilly. The Sean MacCumhaills man is a little-heralded performer in a stellar cast, but tonight in Breffni Park, it was O’Reilly who played the lead role.
O’Reilly clipped three points from play, two of them in a frenetic conclusion that Donegal will feel they should never have been involved in.
After last week’s drawn encounter, Donegal clearly felt they had a score to settle and roared into a five-point lead by the 16th minute.
Kavanagh whipped over after 30 seconds and Anthony Thompson, Martin McElhinney, Murphy and McBrearty were on the board by the time Monaghan broke their duck.
Disaster struck for Donegal when Conor McManus took a free quick to Shane Carey and, with a gaping hole in the Donegal defence, he smashed past Mark Anthony McGinley.
Three minutes before half-time, Thompson was black carded for a foul on Ryan Wylie and McManus drilled the resulting penalty past McGinley.
McGlynn and Murphy, from a free, steadied the wobbles and Donegal led 0-10 to 2-2 at the interval.
It was exiliarting at times and Donegal will have left believing they could have already been punching the tickets for Clones at the interval.
The goals were avoidable, Donegal switching off for McManus’ free and the penalty coming from a move that they could have side-stepped too.
Mark McHugh curled a delightful point at the outset of part two, but even though Murphy, McBrearty and O’Reilly hit three-in-a-row, Donegal still couldn’t get away.
Ten minutes from the end, Karl Lacey uncharacteriustically lost the ball, but Conor McCarthy‘s deft lob over McGinley came off the crossbar.
McManus converted three points for Monaghan and the contest went right to the very last blow of Maurice Deegan’s whistle when O’Reilly and a Murphy free had Donegal ahead by one.
It was that close. That tense. That edgy.
Donegal prevailed and a big win for them and for their manager.
A familiar Clones road awaits in a fortnight.
Donegal: Mark Anthony McGinley, Paddy McGrath, Eamon McGee, Kieran Gillespie; Ryan McHugh, Karl Lacey, Frank McGlynn (0-1); Rory Kavanagh (0-1), Odhrán MacNiallais; Anthony Thompson (0-1), Martin McElhinney (0-1), Eoin McHugh; Patrick McBrearty (0-4, 3f), Michael Murphy (0-5, 4f, 1 ’45), Martin O’Reilly (0-3). Subs: Mark McHugh (0-1) for Thomson (black card, 33), Christy Toye for McElhinney (52), Eoin Ban Gallagher for O’Reilly (70), McElhinney for MacNiallais (70).
Monaghan: Rory Beggan, Colin Walshe (0-1), Drew Wylie, Ryan Wylie; Kieran Duffy, Vinny Corey, Fintan Kelly; Darren Hughes, Karl O’Connell, Owen Duffy (0-1), Ryan McAnespie, Shane Carey (1-1), Daniel McKenna, Kieran Hughes, Conor McManus (1-4, 1-0 pen, 1f, 1 ’45) Subs: Neil McAdam for D Wylie (half-time), Dermot Malone for McKenna (half-time), Conor Boyle (0-1) for R Wylie (46), Conor McCarthy for Carey (49), Jack McCarron (0-2) for K Hughes (52), Dessie Mone for Kelly (63).
Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois).
