Senior footballers edged out in tight battle by Monaghan

FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1

MONAGHAN 2-13 DUBLIN 1-13

A golden spell in the second-half saw Monaghan defeat Dublin in Sunday's FL Division 1 clash at Clones.

Dublin led 1-7 to 0-8 at half-time and early second-half points from Dean Rock and Con O'Callaghan had Dublin four-points clear.

The Dubs might have got a free at one end but Monaghan swept forward for Jack McCarron to leave a goal between the sides.

Then came Monaghan's golden spell with subs Stephen O'Hanlon and Conor McManus having a massive impact in turning the game in favour of the Farney County.

In the 45th minute O'Hanlon goaled to level the game, two minutes later McManus converted a mark for the hosts to take the lead for the first time in this duel.

McManus and O'Hanlon combined for Shane Carey to hit Monaghan's second goal in the 48th minute and when McManus slotted another mark it was 2-11 to 1-9 and a nine-point turnaround had taken place.

Dublin battled to the finish but Monaghan looked a fitter and more cohesive unit at this time of season and made better use of the 'advanced mark' rule.

Ryan Basquel did clip two fine points but it was a goal Dublin needed if they were to snatch victory, it never looked likely.

At the end of an eventful first-half Dublin led 1-7 to 0-8 but it was the hosts who had finished the half on the up by kicking four unanswered points.

Dublin enjoyed a 1-7 to 0-4 advantage after 22 minutes following a superb Brian Fenton point at the end of a two-minute passage of keep ball that was eventually broken by Niall Scully injecting pact into the attack.

However, Dublin failed to score again in the half as Jack McCarron, Fintan Kelly, McCarron (free) and Dermot Malone were all on target to cut the half-time deficit to two points.

Dublin also had their second player black-carded in this period with Robbie McDaid being sanctioned, John Small had spent ten minutes in the 'sin bin' from the 19th minute.

The only goal of the half came in the eighth minute when a left handed pass from Fenton was won strongly by Scully who slotted low to Rory Beggan's net.

Dublin opened impressively and two Dean Rock points, the second off a mark, had them 1-2 to 0-0 ahead inside ten minutes.

Paul Flynn got in on the scoring act with a sweetly struck point in the 15th minute while Con O'Callaghan hit one off either foot as Dublin raised their game to lead 1-6 to 0-3 after 17 minutes.

“Disappointed the result didn’t go our way – but I’m really pleased with the endeavour,” said Dublin manager Jim Gavin afterwards.

“We’re back just two weeks today so we’ve a lot of ground to catch up on other teams, and obviously Monaghan have been doing a lot of work pre-season and it showed towards the latter half of the game.”

SCORERS - Monaghan: J McCarron 0-5 (0-4f), C McManus 0-4 (0-2 mark, 0-2f), S O’Hanlon, S Carey 1-0 each, M Bannigan 0-2 (0-1f, 0-1 mark), F Kelly, D Malone 0-1 each. Dublin: D Rock (0-1 mark, 0-1f), C O’Callaghan (0-1f) 0-4 each, N Scully 1-0, R Basquel 0-2, P Flynn, B Fenton, C Costello (0-f) 0-1 each.

MONAGHAN: R Beggan; K Duffy, C Boyle, R Wylie; K O’Connell, B Kerr, C Walshe; D Hughes, F Kelly; R McAnespie, JMcCarron, D Malone; D Garland, M Bannigan, S Carey. Subs: S O’Hanlon for Garland (43), C McManus for Bannigan (43), D Ward for O’Connell (61), C McCarthy for Malone (69), N McAdam for McAnespie (73).

DUBLIN: E Comerford; E Lowndes, M Fitzsimons, J Cooper; C Mullally, B Howard, J Small; B Fenton, MD Macauley; P Flynn, C O’Callaghan, N Scully; C Costello, P Mannion, D Rock. Subs: R McDaid for Macauley (blood sub 29-35), D Daly for Mullally (49), R Basquel for Flynn (49), C McHugh for Rock (52), C O’Connor for Macauley (56), P Andrews for Costello (61).

REF: D Coldrick (Meath), replaced at half-time by P Hughes (Armagh).