Ulster MFC quarter-final
Armagh 1-13 Monaghan 0-6
ARMAGH set up an Ulster semi-final against Donegal with a 10-point victory over Monaghan on Saturday.
Full-forward Eoin Duffy was the star man for the home side as he claimed a personal haul of 1-4.
It was his first-half major, set up by Keelan McEntee, that gave Armagh some breathing space early on and they pushed on after that to dominate.
While the forward line dictated the difference, Armagh’s defensive structure on the day was superb.
Blocks from Fergus Toale and goalkeeper Michael Finnegan denied Monaghan goalscoring opportunities in the second period and Monaghan struggled to break down the Orchard defence.
Diarmaid O’Rourke opened the scoring for Armagh, but another 10 minutes went by before another flag was raised, with Duffy flicking home the game’s first and only goal. The teams swapped scores before a Duffy brace saw Armagh lead at the interval, 1-5 to 0-2.
McEntee and Luke McKenna cancelled each other out in the early stages of the second period before Armagh widened the gap with three scores on the bounce from Sean Woods, Ross Marsden and O’Rourke.
Evan Treanor and Luke McKenna pulled two back for Dermot Malone’s visitors, while McEntee’s second of the afternoon was cancelled out by Monaghan substitute Oisin McConnon.
James McCooe got in on the scoring act and just like in the first half, the second period ended with two more points for man-of-the-match Duffy to give Armagh a 10-point lead by full-time.
Armagh are now one win away from reaching their first Ulster final at this grade since 2014.
Armagh M Finnegan, T Fox, G O’Rourke, C Wilson, F Toale (0-1), S Woods (0-1), D O’Rourke (0-2), J Loughran, D O’Callaghan, R Marsden (0-2), J McCooe (0-1), K McEntee (0-2), F Toale, E Duffy 1-4, S Loughran
Subs A Garvey for S Loughran, O Gribben for R Marsden, M Walker for F Toale, D McGee for T Fox, A McGrane for D O’Rourke
Monaghan J Flanagan, M McCaffrey, T McGeough, S Carolan, S Corrigan, A Stewart, C Meehan, T Nugent, C Rafferty (0-1 free), L McKenna (0-2), D Foy, S Hanratty, E Treanor (0-1), K Kearns (0-1 free), P Carville
Subs L Mone for P Carville, C McElwain for K Kearns, O McConnon 0-1 for T Nugent, J Cassidy for E Treanor, S Du Plessis for D Foy
