Dublin 1-10 Monaghan 0-13MONAGHAN ARE reliable. You can rely on them to come down to Dublin in late March and provide something akin to championship pace. They are guaranteed to bring a bristling intensity as well. Dublin responded in kind. The record will show they overdid it.
Being reduced to 13 men is forgivable if you win the match.
Mark Vaughan was gone four minutes into the second half. It was a surprise he reappeared at all after half-time given he was already on a yellow card and a tick. Nor was his free-taking reaping the usual rewards.
Monaghan sensed an opportunity, predictably drawing him into repeated verbals and ruffling his composure with off-the-ball shoulders. They were always going to draw another foul out of him.
Paul Caffrey didn't seem overly perturbed by the dismissal, even calling Vaughan to shake his hand.
"Maybe the crowd reaction spoke louder than Paul Caffrey can speak," was all Caffrey would say about it. "Yellow cards are going to accumulate when there's a lot of passion . . . I don't think there was any really bad fouls."
Trailing 0-6 to 0-3, Dublin soon found themselves five points adrift after a Paul Finlay free and a point by substitute Stephen Gollogly from a ridiculously acute angle. This was Monaghan's only score from play but it really doesn't matter when Finlay and Tommy Freeman provide a live seminar in free-taking perfection.
Anyway, with Vaughan out of the equation, and Monaghan beginning to lord it, the Dublin collective yelled: Enough!
David Henry burst out of the defence to bang one over. Seconds later it was a one-point game as Paul Flynn put a neat finish to some fine approach play from the older deck hands. Paul Casey launched one in from deep, and Jason Sherlock, who showed well for ball all afternoon (13 years at this level and counting), gathered before cleverly picking out the onrushing Flynn.
In typical Dublin blitzkrieg style it was level a minute later, Bernard Brogan taking on Vaughan's mantle to clip over a free.
A lull followed but Brogan should have put Dublin out of reach; he spurned a clear shot on goal by trying to be too clever: a reverse pass to Sherlock was picked off and Monaghan survived.
No matter because Conal Keaney found his groove. A strike from 50 yards was followed by another Brogan free before Keaney made it a three-point gap entering the last 10 minutes.
Everything was just fine. Shane Ryan was dominating Eoin Lennon in midfield, only to be switched to a more advanced role to provide room for Ciarán Whelan's seasonal debut.
Eamonn Fennell can be heartened by his retention in the middle even when Darren Magee was sprung in injury time.
Keaney added two scores from miles out but Monaghan reaped the benefit of Syl Doyle's whistle every time they came into scoring range. Finlay and Freeman duly eroded the Dublin lead.
"I have to compliment Monaghan's free taking today," said Caffrey. "I can't be happy with the frees they got but the actual free taking was . . . exemplary. Maybe a draw was a fair result."
We don't believe he means that. Dublin had Monaghan by the jugular only to release their grip entering injury-time.
The opening 35 minutes was like first day in the prison yard. Nobody knows anyone else so they all refuse to back down. Fennell, Keaney and Vaughan went into the book for calling-card late hits.
Finlay or Freeman, depending on field position, punished them.
"We were in a dominant position in the first half," Caffrey continued. "Not on the scoreboard but in the possession stakes and scoring opportunities we were the dominant team in both halves so we improved a bit. Our option taking in front of goal was far better in the second half."
At the end it felt like Monaghan got more out of the affair, not that Dublin confidence will dwindle. On the contrary, the St Vincent's lads will return with their All-Ireland club medals; that was Whelan's first high-level outing since August; Keaney was briefly magnificent and generally industrious.
It was the conclusion that will rankle. Bryan Cullen picked up a second yellow card that allowed Freeman close the gap to a point. Finlay levelled it at the death, a decision that incensed home players and supporters. It should not have come as a surprise. They knew the form.
It precipitated a sharp exit to the Dublin dressingroom, while Monaghan lingered on the field, listening to Séamus McEnaney. Perhaps he spoke about setting down markers. Maybe he mentioned the need for similar fortitude when summer comes.
DUBLIN:S Cluxton; D Henry (0-1),R McConnell, D Murray; P Casey, B Cullen, C Moran; E Fennell, S Ryan; P Flynn (1-0),K Bonner, M Vaughan (0-2, two frees); J Sherlock (0-1, capt), C Keaney (0-4, 45, one free), B Brogan (0-2, two frees). Substitutes:C Whelan for K Bonner (59 mins), B McManamon for P Flynn (66 mins), D Magee for B Brogan (70 mins).
MONAGHAN:P McBennett; D Mone, JP Mone, D McArdle; D Freeman (capt), D Hughes, P McGuigan; D Clerkin, E Lennon; C McManus, V Corey, P Finlay (0-5, five frees);R Woods, R Ronaghan, T Freeman (0-7, seven frees). Substitutes: S Gollogly (0-1)for C McManus (half-time), B McKenna for D Clerkin, D Morgan for P McGuigan (both 54 mins), C Hanratty for R Woods (64 mins), N McAdam for D Hughes (70 mins).
Referee: S Doyle(Wexford).
