Senior Footballers suffer last gasp defeat to Monaghan in the Allianz NFL

DUBLIN 1-14 

MONAGHAN 3-9

A last-gasp point from substitute Ciaran McNulty proved pivotal as Monaghan pipped Dublin by the slimmest of margins in their Allianz National Football League Division 1 encounter at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

An early Cormac Costello goal handed the Dubs a welcome initiative in the opening quarter but the concession of two goals to Jack McCarron (penalty) and Stephen O’Hanlon left the teams deadlocked at half-time.

It meandered this way and that after the break with both teams enjoying narrow leads before McNulty finally settled the entertaining clash with a point in the final minute of added time.

It was the hosts that made the first inroads on the scoreboard as Lorcan O’Dell found space in behind the Monaghan defence and his excellent pass allowed Costello the chance to fire home inside the left-hand upright of Darren McDonnell from eight yards.

The visitors were far from rocked by that concession as they enjoyed a generous amount of possession and after a couple of near misses, they opened their own account through a Micheál Bannigan point in the 8^th minute.

With frees difficult to source on either side, scores remained at a premium before late replacement Luke Breathnach restored Dublin’s three-point lead from a ‘mark’ in the 12^th minute.

A second Dublin goal should have arrived two minutes later as Jack McCaffrey led a blistering counter-attack that went through the hands of Eoin Murchan and Costello on its way to Lorcan O’Dell, whose shot was well smothered by McDonnell.

A fine McCarron point in the 17^th minute doubled the away tally but Monaghan were guilty of dropping a number of attempts short into David O’Hanlon’s grasp.

Two frees in quick succession by Costello saw Dublin regain a degree of control and a well-worked team score by Ciaran Kilkenny pushed the Dubs five points clear by the 25^th minute.

However, Monaghan were quickly back in contention two minutes later as Michael Hamill was impeded inside the large square by Cian Murphy and McCarron did the necessary from the resultant penalty, sending O’Hanlon the wrong way.

Murchan popped up once again in attack to kick a smart point off his left boot but the reply at the opposite end was emphatic as Stephen O’Hanlon cut through from the right-flank before planting a superb shot to the roof of the net, ensuring an interval parity of 1-5 to 2-2 in the process.

Dublin regained the lead as Ross McGarry converted a ‘mark’ within two minutes of the restart but they were understandably lacking a degree of fluency up front on their first night out.

Another mazy run from Stephen O’Hanlon almost yielded a third Monaghan goal in the 42^nd minute but his shot was too close to his namesake David O’Hanlon, who parried away to safety.

A Murphy point doubled the home advantage soon after but it was of scant surprise to see their opponents draw level by the 48^th minute following points on the bounce from Bannigan and McCarron.

Dublin introduced two of their All Stars in Colm Basquel and James McCarthy and that saw them wrestle some momentum back into their play as Paddy Small and Costello (free) restored their two-point buffer.

A Colm Basquel score at the start of the final quarter hinted that the hosts might just pull away but that suggestion was quickly scoffed as Monaghan raced in for a third goal through Ciaran McNulty, who showed great poise in slipping the ball under David O’Hanlon in the 59^th minute.

The hosts were now facing their own two-point deficit but mustered a strong response through points by McGarry and Killian O’Gara to level matters by the 62^nd minute.

Back came the Farney through scores by O’Hanlon and Bannigan but Dublin once again dragged themselves back to parity following frees by Costello and David O’Hanlon.

However, the final word belonged to the visitors as Dublin lost possession close to the Monaghan goal with their counter-attack allowing McNulty the opportunity to claim the precious two points on offer.

Scorers – Dublin: C Costello 1-4 (0-4f), R McGarry 0-2 (1 mark), D O’Hanlon (f), E Murchan, C Murphy, C Kilkenny, P Small, L Breathnach (mark), C Basquel, K O’Gara 0-1 apiece. Monaghan: R McCarron 1-2 (1-0 pen), C McNulty, S O’Hanlon 1-1 each, M Bannigan 0-3 (2f), D McDonnell (f), A Woods 0-1 each.

Dublin: D O’Hanlon; L Gannon, S MacMahon, E Murchan; G McEneaney, C Murphy, J McCaffrey; B Fenton, C Kilkenny; P Small, L O’Dell, R McGarry; C Costello, C O’Callaghan, L Breathnach. Subs: C Basquel for Breathnach (46), J McCarthy for McCaffrey (46), K O’Gara for O’Dell (55), N Scully for McGarry (61), T Clancy for Murchan (67).

Monaghan: D McDonnell; R Wylie, K Lavelle, R O’Toole; R McAnespie, K Duffy, K Loughran; J Wilson, G Mohan; S O’Hanlon, M Bannigan, M Hamill; D Garland, J McCarron, J Irwin. Subs: C McNulty for McAnespie (32), S Mooney for Garland (46), D Treanor for Wylie (56), A Woods for McCarron (56), C Lennon for Irwin (68).

Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).