Monaghan show spirit to earn a late reprieve against Donegal

Monaghan 0-14 Donegal 1-11

Is Ulster football making a mockery of us? For the second weekend a game that in other years might have choked itself to death just kept on coming back to life, the replay now as appetising as the perfect summer barbecue.

Sure, it had moments of mild cynicism but the pace and physicality was awesome, the excitement unwavering, both teams drawing the absolute best out of each other when it mattered most.

Nor was there any anti-climax whatsoever at the end result. In the six minutes of added time, Monaghan came from behind not once but twice to level it – Donegal’s last flirt with the lead through the hands of Christy Toye cancelled out by the boot of Conor McManus, his equalising free effectively the last play of the game.

So, it keeps alive Monaghan’s chances of retaining the Ulster title, and Donegal’s chances of winning it back – next Saturday’s semi-final replay (likely back at Breffni Park) their fifth straight championship bout in four years, including the last three provincial finals. There is no closer or keener football rivalry in the country right now.

Any sense Donegal might feel they let their chance slip on Saturday evening, having been in front for the last 15 minutes of normal time, was immediately contradicted by the face of manager Rory Gallagher afterwards. He looked relieved – every bit as much as Monaghan manager Malachy O’Rourke –  and for good reason. Donegal had played those last 15 minutes with 14 men, Martin McElhinney sent off just before a brilliant goal from Odhrán Mac Niallais which only then had given them their first real advantage of the evening.

Great heart

“It was backs to the wall at the end, and to be fair, we showed great heart, and character, in the end,” said Gallagher.

“I thought we had it a couple of times. But you’d never write Monaghan off. They’re a great battling team. We found ourselves 10-7 down earlier in the second half, which is a lot in game like that, so happy with the way we battled back too.”

Indeed like their quarter-final win over Fermanagh, when they lost Neil McGee to a red card, Donegal appeared to play better with 14 men. Explain that Rory?

“Ach, we were disappointed to lose Martin, though I don’t think we can argue with the black card, and he’d the yellow earlier on. But we responded really well, scored a great goal. And I think we should have had a goal earlier. We started the second half very well, Ciaran Gillespie had a great chance. So again I’d just be very happy with the way we just battled and battled, as did Monaghan.”

Donegal haven’t ruled out getting McGee’s two-match ban overturned in time for the replay (McElhinney will be okay to play), but Gallagher has other things to worry about.

Michael Murphy was far from his best in front of goal, missing two kickable frees, and a ‘45’; Donegal’s continued lack of discipline also needs addressing, particularly as they coughed up three frees to McManus in added time.

“I was concerned, yeah,” he said of all those misses. “I was thinking I might have to put on the boots myself. But again, we showed great character. Boys are going to have days like that. I just wouldn’t fancy them to have too many more.”

And those silly frees at the end? “You could argue that, and it’s disappointing, but we were under serious pressure out there in the end. Monaghan were in the ascendency, and players were maybe not making the decisions they possibly could have, and that’s what happened.”

Strange decision

Donegal goalkeeper Mark Anthony McGinley certainly made a strange decision at the end, going down hard when there appeared to be minimal contact;: he held up the game alright, only not long enough to keep Donegal in front. There was also some confusion in the end over the final Donegal substitute, Eoghan Gallagher coming on, and whether or not Martin Reilly had immediately made way. Neither manager made an issue of it afterwards, nor suggested they would revisit it.

“I won’t be making anything of it, no,” said O’Rourke, who like Gallagher had nothing but praise for his team.

“Overall it was a tough, hard match, and being two points down, going into injury time, you have to be happy enough to get another day at it. And we know it will be more of the same the next day.

“The way Donegal play, with so many men behind the ball, the spare man doesn’t count as much as maybe it would against other teams, playing more conventional. Going 10-7 up, I felt we were in control, to a degree, before the goal that went against us. So overall we’ll take the draw. I certainly we felt we were on the back foot, going into added time, but knowing the boys, and we’ve been in positions like that before, they never give in, number one. And they never panic. We have a lot of experienced heads in there, know how to keep playing, don’t be rushing things on, and we worked the scores.

“And Conor’s kicking was great again, and shows the mentality of him.”

Indeed it was, McManus finishing with 0-8, seven frees. Vinny Corey also played a big role in handling Murphy, although Colin Walsh wasn’t as successful with Patrick McBrearty, who hit 0-5 for Donegal, three frees. MacNiallias had another big game for Donegal, winning the throw-in, passing off to Karl Lacey, who promptly fired between the Monaghan posts.

That set the tempo for the evening, although it took a while for the goal to come, O’Reilly slipping the ball inside on 56 minutes and Mac Niallais buried his shot beautifully, – and Donegal were up, 1-8 to 0-10.

Looked better

That suddenly cancelled out Monaghan’s advantage. They’d looked better under the breaking ball around midfield, Karl O’Connell kicking two excellent points to push them 0-10 to 0-7 ahead on 50 minutes. Around then Murphy shot two frees wide and dropped another shot short, before and McBrearty hit another wide, and with that Monaghan surely sensed it was theirs.

Instead, Donegal turned the game in their favour in the final quarter, but just never enough to shake off Monaghan. What will separate them the next day is impossible to say, Tyrone and Cavan also meet again next weekend to decide who will pair up in the final. Can Ulster football handle all this?

MONAGHAN: R Beggan; C Walsh, D Wylie, R Wylie; F Kelly, V Corey, K Duffy; K O'Connell (0-2), K Hughes; S Carey (0-1), O Duffy (0-1), R McAnespie; C McCarthy (0-2, one free), D Hughes, C McManus (capt) (0-8, seven frees).

Subs: D Mone for D Wylie (58 mins), D McKenna for McCarthy (58 mins), C Boyle for Walsh (60 minutes, black card), J McCarron for Carey (64 mins).

DONEGAL: M McGinley; P McGrath, C Gillespie, E McGee; R McHugh, K Lacey (0-1), F McGlynn; R Kavanagh, O Mac Niallais (1-0); A Thompson, M McElinney, E McHugh (0-1); P McBrearty (0-5, three frees), M Murphy (capt) (0-3, two frees), M O'Reilly.

Subs: M McHugh for Thompson (64 mins), C Toye (0-1) for Kavanagh (68 mins)

Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan).

Attendance: 16,287