Ulster Senior Football Championship preliminary round: Monaghan 1-17 Cavan 2-15 (aet)
From Brendan Crossan in Clones
THE autumn leaves danced majestically along the side of the road, the storm clouds quickened overhead and panicked birds widowed from their flock darted and swooped nervously in these uncertain days.
At the bottom of Clones hill, the traffic lights went from red to green and back again with not a car in sight. The Creighton Hotel, usually jammed on Ulster Championship days, stood quietly undaunted on the corner.
On a mercilessly dank Saturday afternoon, a weird kind of loneliness gripped the old market town.
So, for better or worse, this was where the Ulster Championship began in 2020. On Halloween.
With stewards and press reporters socially distant and masked up, age-old rivals Monaghan and Cavan were ready for the heavy sod as a ghostly wind swept through the empty concrete terraces.
The sparse number of press reporters at the back of the Gerry Arthurs Stand could hear every instruction from the sideline and every cajoling word from both sets of substitutes.
But the guttural roar that greeted Raymond Galligan’s monster kick to win it for Cavan in the 94th minute will echo around St Tiernach’s Park for some time to come.
On another day, there would have been 15,000 hemmed into the ground to share in the joy and devastation of the Cavan goalkeeper’s outrageous kick from 55 unfathomable metres that sailed effortlessly between Monaghan’s goalposts.
It was the final, dramatic act of this preliminary joust with red-hot favourites Monaghan only themselves to blame.
This was Monaghan at their schizophrenic best and worst. Super in the opening half; incomprehensibly dreadful in the second half, and not much better in the two periods of extra-time.
Monaghan racked up 1-11 in the opening 35 minutes and held a commanding seven-point lead, but they could and should have had 4-11 and buried their neighbours in their own backyard.
A combination of the woodwork and Galligan’s bravery came to Cavan’s rescue during that first-half onslaught. Karl O’Connell, Conor McCarthy and Ryan McAnespie had glorious goal chances but they couldn’t convert for Monaghan.
Somewhat inevitably, it was left to Conor McManus to raise a green flag in first-half injury-time. Uncoachable movement from the evergreen attacker and a sublime pass from defender Kieran Duffy put the Farney men firmly in the driving seat despite an Oisin Pierson major that gave Cavan an early foothold.
Michael Brannigan and O’Hanlon looked the real deal in the Monaghan attack, while Duffy, Dessie Ward and O’Connell raided from deep positions at will.
But then the weirdest thing occurred: the half-time whistle sounded.
For all their first-half gusto and panache, Monaghan didn’t deserve to progress on the evidence of the second half and extra-time.
Without trying to burst Cavan’s balloon, they didn’t have to play exceptional football to haul themselves back in contention because Monaghan were so poor.
“Cavan went back into their own half [in the second half] and we could have held the ball back here [in our own half], and probably should have held it back,” said defeated manager Seamus McEnaney afterwards.
“Where we lost the game was we went into the web and they turned the ball over. This is a setback for us, a big setback.”
Monaghan’s problem wasn’t tactics – it was purely psychological. It was so easy for Monaghan to create chances in the first half that they must have felt they’d breeze into the quarter-finals in the second half.
But they couldn’t raise a gallop after the break as Cavan won the second half 0-9 to 0-2, rattling off six unanswered points from the 63rd minute until full-time.
Second-half substitute Thomas Galligan caught ball and ran at the Monaghan defence to brilliant effect. Half-backs Gerard Smith and Luke Fortune burst forward and nabbed three scores between them.
Oisin Kieran never stopped running and Gearoid McKiernan shook off Fintan Kelly more than a couple of times to play a key role in Cavan’s win.
McManus registered a staggering 1-4 in the first half but proceeded to hit five wides in the second half and his last attempt from a placed ball could have won it in normal time.
Substitutes Andrew Woods and Colin Walshe put Monaghan two ahead in extra-time before Cavan kept turning the screw, especially after Monaghan substitute Chris McGuinness was red-carded for an off-the-ball incident involving Luke Fortune.
In the 84th minute, Marty Reilly palmed to the Monaghan net after Thomas Galligan left Ryan Wylie for dead before off-loading to his team-mate who couldn’t miss from a yard out. The green flag put Cavan 2-13 to 1-15 in front.
There was still time for a few more twists and turns. A stoppage-time Rory Beggan free looked like the score that would send this tie to penalties before Raymond Galligan’s divine intervention from a ridiculous distance out.
“We planned for penalties on Thursday night and we had a bit of craic with it,” said Cavan boss Mickey Graham.
“I had the names in the book ready for the penalties.
“[But] Ray showed great nerve and great steel. What a kick. They did everything to put Ray off but he held his nerve.”
And in the fading light came that guttural roar that ricocheted all around the concrete terraces.
Monaghan’s year is over. Cavan march on and will face Antrim at Breffni Park next Saturday.
Monaghan: R Beggan (0-1 free); K Duffy (0-2), C Boyle, R Wylie; D Ward (0-1), F Kelly (0-1), K O’Connell; D Hughes, K Hughes; R McAnespie (0-1), M Brannigan (0-2), D Wylie; S O’Hanlon (0-1), C McCarthy (0-1), C McManus (1-4, 0-1 free) Subs: D Malone for D Wylie (29), S Carey (0-1 mark) for C McCarthy (64), N Kearns for S O’Hanlon (66), C Walshe (0-1) for T Brannigan (71), A Woods (0-1) for F Kelly (80), C McCarthy for K O’Connell (87)
Yellow cards: D Wylie (23), N Kearns (69), C Walshe (83)
Red card: C McGuinness (79)
Cavan: R Galligan (0-1 free); J O’Loughlin, K Clarke, K Brady; G Smith (0-1), C Brady, L Fortune (0-2); J Smith (0-1), P Faulkner; M Reilly (0-1), G McKiernan (0-3), O Kiernan (0-1); O Pierson (1-0), S Smith (0-2), C O’Reilly Subs: T Galligan (0-1) for J Smith (h/t), N Murray (0-1 mark) for O Pierson (42), TE Donohue for C O’Reilly (45), C Conroy (0-1, ’45) for C Brady (55), E Doughty for N Murray (71), O Brady for S Smith (81), C McTimoney for J McLoughlin (90), N Murray for TE Donohue (93)
Yellow card: T Galligan (71)
Black card: M Reilly (88)
Referee: C Branagan (Down)
Cavan star man: Raymond Galligan (Cavan)
YOU couldn't argue with Sky pundit Dick Clerkin going for Thomas Galligan as man-of-the-match as the second-half substitute helped swing the game in Cavan's favour. But in the unfolding drama it's easy to forget Raymond Galligan kept Cavan afloat in the first half with a string of brave blocks to deny Monaghan three goals. Once he executed that unbelievable free, it separated the two Galligans. Honourable mentions to Gerard Smith, Luke Fortune, Gearoid McKiernan and Oisin Kiernan.
Monaghan star man: Kieran Duffy
IT looked like being another glowing archive in the illustrious career of Conor McManus after he hit a brilliant 1-4 in the first half, but over the course of the entire game, it was hard to look past defender Kieran Duffy. Defended robustly and effectively and got forward to grab two important points. He also claimed a couple of assists, including a fantastic pass for McManus's first half goal.
