Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final: Donegal 1-11 Monaghan 0-14
PERHAPS they were aware that the eyes of the Irish sporting world had wandered to foreign fields. The build-up, considering the high stakes, was as low-key as memory recalls. But with all the force of a thudding shoulder from a rampaging Michael Murphy, Donegal and Monaghan reminded each and every one of us what it is we love about the Ulster Championship at its best.
Sloppy play, bad passes, poor choices, wayward shooting, some dodgy refereeing – for the purist there was plenty to pick holes in, but what do they know?
What transpired at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday night was glorious. Glorious because we have waited what seems like an eternity for this kind of game. This intensity. This needle.
The dramatic draw between Tyrone and Cavan the week previous was on another level to everything that had gone before, no question, but Donegal versus Monaghan was in a different stratosphere.
From the moment Karl Lacey put the Tir Chonaill men ahead just 10 seconds in, to the never-in-doubt swing of Conor McManus’s right boot six minutes into added time at the end of the second half, this was heart-stopping stuff.
While Monaghan finished strongly, it was Donegal who came flying out of the blocks as, from the throw-in, Murphy – looking fitter than last day out against Fermanagh – bounded forward, fisted the ball to Lacey and he slotted over. Some in the stand were still taking their seats.
Shane Carey got Monaghan off the mark but a Murphy free restored the Tir Chonaill men’s two-point advantage before McManus, with his first free of the day after a foul on Kieran Hughes, cut the gap to the minimum 16 minutes in.
Conor McCarthy levelled matters five minutes later but, if Monaghan thought they were building up a head of steam, Murphy had other ideas.
Having watched, eyes widening, as the Donegal captain ran on to a hand pass from McElhinney, Drew Wylie could do nothing but grit his teeth and wait for the inevitable as the Glenswilly powerhouse – carrying all the momentum towards his static opponent – careered, shoulder on shoulder, into Wylie.
The roars from the Donegal crowd filled the night sky. It would have brought a tear to the eye, even for a neutral, such was its beauty.
But Monaghan, and Wylie, were undeterred. He dusted himself down – eventually – and went on a couple of forward forays, winning the free from which McManus converted dead ball number three of the day, minutes after the Clontibret ace had put Malachy O’Rourke’s men ahead for the first time.
But back roared Donegal. Patrick McBrearty, barely involved until this point, reeled off three points in-a-row – two of which were frees – between the 28th and 32nd minutes to put his team ahead 0-6 to 0-5, and another McManus free a minute into added time left the rivals level at the break.
A bit of pushing and shoving between the two groups of players got the adrenaline flowing even more, and the second half followed suit, delivering drama and tension in equal measure.
It might not have been a day for forwards as both teams packed the defence, but there were occasional glimpses of real quality. The sight of Owen Duffy skinning Karl Lacey along the end line before fisting over to level Murphy’s early free was a pleasure to behold.
Minutes later, Donegal came close to grabbing a breakthrough goal. The unlikely figure of stand-in full-back Ciaran Gillespie burst forward in a style similar to the man he replaced in the starting 15, the suspended Neil McGee, and looked set to ripple the net.
Coming on to a fisted ball from Anthony Thompson, he had the goal at his mercy but Rory Beggan was equal to the task, blocking the shot as the ball went out for a 45.
And Monaghan spurned their one goalscoring opportunity of the evening 60 seconds later when Duffy played in former U21 star Ryan McAnespie in acres of space, but the ball spilled from his hands at the crucial moment.
An outrageous McManus score from way out on the right – his only point from play – restored Monaghan’s one-point advantage, 0-8 to 0-7, and when Murphy and McBrearty squandered four easy scoring opportunities either side of two superb points from O’Connell, the signs were ominous for Donegal.
Another goal chance presented itself in the 51st minute, though, this time McBrearty spinning on to his left from 15 yards out and somehow firing over.
McElhinney’s red card followed shortly after he was shown a black card, having picked up an earlier yellow, for an off-the-ball collision with Drew Wylie.
Yet, as is so often the case when teams are reduced to 14 men, it seemed to spur the Tir Chonaill men into life.
The otherwise disappointing Odhran Mac Niallais was on hand to grab the only goal of the day, clinically slotting under Beggan after a clever fist pass from the increasingly influential Thompson.
From trailing by three nine minutes earlier, Donegal were now ahead by a point. Conor McCarthy’s second of the day levelled things up again but, after a black card for corner-back Colin Walshe, a McBrearty free and an Eoin McHugh score, the 2012 All-Ireland champions two points ahead going into the final five minutes.
As the game crept past 70 minutes, there looked to be only one winner. With six minutes added time shown on the board though, anything was possible – especially when Conor McManus is around.
He notched two frees to tie the game, the second a brilliant effort from fully 50 metres, but the Clontibret man would be called on again to save the day – and Dick Clerkin owes him a pint next time they’re out as a result.
The Farney veteran, who had only been on the field for two minutes, gave the ball straight to Murphy and it was eventually worked to Donegal sub Christy Toye, who fisted over to huge cheers. Clerkin looked crestfallen, but Monaghan weren’t done yet.
And when Thompson fouled O’Connell, there was only one man to step up and send this game to a replay. McManus duly obliged, pinging the ball between the posts and sending a second Ulster Championship semi-final to a replay after a thunderous clash.
Of course, the best thing about it all is that we get to see them do it all again this weekend.
MATCH STATS
Donegal: MA 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 McElhinney, E McHugh (0-1); P McBrearty (0-5, 0-3 frees), M Murphy (0-3, 0-2 frees), M Reilly. Subs: M McHugh for A Thompson (65), C Toye (0-1) for R Kavanagh (68), E Gallagher for M O’Reilly (75). Black card: M McElhinney (55) not replaced Yellow cards: M McElhinney (23), E McGee (36) Red card: M McElhinney (55)
Monaghan: R Beggan; C Walshe, 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, 0-1 free), D Hughes, C McManus (0-8, 0-7 frees). Subs: D McKenna for C McCarthy (59), C Boyle for C Walshe (62), J McCarron for S Carey (65), D Clerkin for R McAnespie (72) Black card: C Boyle for C Walshe (62) Yellow cards: C McManus (27), R Wylie (42), R McAnespie (45)
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan)
Att: 16,287
