Monaghan withstand Donegal comeback to win Ulster SFC title
Wednesday 22 July 2015 11:07, UK
Monaghan were crowned Ulster champions for the second time in three years after holding on for a 0-11 to 0-10 victory over Donegal in Clones.
The Oriel County led by five points with 20 minutes remaining but Donegal rallied and four unanswered points set up a tense finish.
Paddy McBrearty had a late chance to force a replay in the second minute of injury time but the forward’s effort curled the wrong side of the posts, their 15th wide in a below-par performance.
Monaghan did a superb job marshalling Donegal’s key players, while Conor McManus was at his brilliant best in attack. He scored six points, two coming from play, despite being double-teamed for long spells.
It was Donegal who got off to the better start at St Tiernach’s Park, with Patrick McBrearty, Karl Lacey and Frank McGlynn all scoring points from play inside the opening five minutes.
But the defending champions managed just one point in the remainder of the first half as Monaghan curbed the influence of their key forwards.
The home side also exposed gaps in the Donegal defence and Paul Durcan was called into action on 13 minutes, the goalkeeper bravely denying Dermot Malone.
After an exciting start, the game went 11 minutes without a score as both teams piled men behind the ball, and they were also guilty of some lateral hand-passing between both 45-metre lines.
Two crossfield balls yielded points for Owen Duffy and Kieran Duffy, while Christy Toye lost possession deep inside his own half after intense pressure from Ryan Wylie and McManus, the latter firing a dipping shot over the bar.
A Murphy free stopped the rot for Donegal but Monaghan finished the half in style, with Dessie Mone and McManus splitting the posts to give them a 0-8 to 0-4 interval lead.
Donegal started the second half with intent but hit three wides in succession, and Owen Lennon punished them with a superb point from an acute angle.
A pair of McBrearty frees were cancelled out by McManus, who held off two Donegal defenders to kick his sixth point of the game on 50 minutes.
Monaghan looked on course for a comfortable victory but Donegal dominated the final quarter, and three quick-fire scores from McBrearty left the minimum between the teams with five minutes remaining.
McManus saw a point attempt come back off the upright and that miss looked as though it would prove costly when McBrearty got on the ball in front of goal deep in injury time.
However, his shot drifted inches wide and a relieved Monaghan held on to lift the Anglo-Celt Cup for the 16th time.
Monaghan: R Beggan; D Mone (0-1), V Corey, R Wylie; C Walshe, F Kelly, K O'Connell (0-1); N McAdam, D Hughes; O Duffy (0-1), O Lennon (0-1), K Duffy (0-1); D Malone, K Hughes, C McManus (0-6, 4f).
Subs: R McAnespie for Duffy (45), S Gollogly for Malone (54), D Clerkin for Lennon (69).
Donegal: P Durcan; P McGrath, N McGee, E McGee; R McHugh, K Lacey (0-1), F McGlynn (0-1); N Gallagher, M McElhinney; C Toye, O Mac Niallais, M McHugh; P McBrearty (0-6, 4f), M Murphy (0-2, 2f), C McFadden.
Subs: M O’Reilly for Toye (32), A Thompson for Lacey (39), D O’Connor for McFadden (52), L McLoone for Mac Niallais (69).
Ref: D Coldrick (Meath).
