Ulster Senior Football Championship final: Donegal 0-1- Monaghan 0-11 (St Tiernach's park, Clones)
THE only upset of this year’s Ulster Championship finally arrived in Clones yesterday as Monaghan dethroned Donegal with a performance which combined clinical planning with class finishing.
A Donegal side, searching for their fourth provincial title in five years, suffered a severe malfunction.
Yet, Rory Gallagher’s men could still have snatched a draw at the end.
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Patrick McBrearty’s snapshot in the 73rd minute appeared to be straight and true, but the umpires never moved.
And the lack of reaction from the Donegal supporters in the Eastern Stand suggested that the men in the white coats had made the correct call.
McBrearty’s shot would prove to be Donegal’s last chance. When referee David Coldrick blew the long whistle, the entire population of Monaghan appeared to spill onto the field.
This was the third successive final contested by these counties. Monaghan claimed first blood in 2013. Donegal avenged that defeat last year. Yesterday’s clash was billed as the decider.
That explains why Monaghan captain Conor McManus stated on collecting the Anglo-Celt trophy that second victories are the “sweetest”.
McManus played a huge part in his team’s success. He was easily the most influential player on the field. Despite the close scrutiny of Neil McGee’s man-marking, he still managed to kick 0-3 from play.
It was Monaghan’s ability to score from a variety of sources while nullifying Donegal’s shooters which dictated the final outcome.
Donegal managed just 0-4 from play. Patrick McBrearty was the only forward who raised a white flag. Colm McFadden, Michael Murphy, Odhrán MacNiallais, Christy Toye and Martin McElhinney all failed to score from play. Unable to breach Monaghan’s excellent defensive shield, Donegal were forced to shoot from distance.
Unlike the semi-final against Derry when they managed to convert from outside the scoring zone, Donegal couldn’t hit the proverbial barn door.
There is no doubt that pressure contributed to Donegal’s profligacy. Trailing by four points at half-time, the champions knew they couldn’t afford the luxury of repeatedly lofting pot-shots wide of the posts. But the harder they tried, the worse it got. They posted 10 wides in the second half.
As Donegal tried in vain to muscle shots over the bar, Monaghan were able to sit back and hit them with devastating counter-attacks.
The first indication that Donegal would be returning to the hills empty-handed came at the start of the second half. Donegal have forged a fearsome reputation for the manner in which they put teams to the sword in the third quarter.
During that period they threw everything at Monaghan. Dominant at midfield, they launched four successive attacks. But those four attacks yielded nothing. Odhrán MacNiallais, Martin McElhinney and Colm McFadden (two) hit four wides.
Monaghan’s response was devastating and their economy of effort must have had a demoralising effect on Donegal. From two attacks at the start of the second half, they fashioned two points.
Donegal’s increasing desperation was highlighted in the 50th minute when their defence failed to deal with a diagonal ball that was directed towards Conor McManus. Normally, Neil McGee would have averted the danger by taking a high catch or breaking the ball away to safety.
Proof of Donegal’s uncertainly came when McGee flapped at the ball. When it fell kindly for McManus, the Monaghan captain was able to curl over his fifth point of the afternoon.
That 50th minute strike, which made the scoreline 0-11 to 0-6, was the game’s winning point.
Cue Donegal’s final assault. Having abandoned their strategy of trying to score from play, Donegal tried a different policy. They ran at Monaghan’s defence.
This tactic immediately paid richer dividends. Ryan McHugh set the tone when he was dragged down by Darren Hughes. Michael Murphy converted the free.
Three points in the space of five minutes quickly followed. Fouls on Martin O’Reilly and Mark McHugh were punished with excellent free-kicks by McBrearty. Those efforts sandwiched a brilliant long range effort by the same player.
With four minutes left on the clock, the gap had quickly been reduced to a single point.
The suspicion that Monaghan were going to get caught with a late rally intensified when a shot by Conor McManus ricocheted off the post, and fell into the arms of Eamon McGee.
An injury to Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan meant that there were three additional minutes and Donegal had ample time to snatch an equaliser.
But Monaghan are a battle hardened outfit. Evidence of that hard-earned experience came when veteran warrior Dick Clerkin drew a foul from Leo McLoone. Goalkeeper Rory Beggan was summoned up from the goals to hit the free and more precious time ticked away.
Still, Donegal were able to launch one last attack.
In trademark style they worked the ball into the arms of their ‘shooter’ – McBrearty. The moment the Kilcar clubman took possession he was immediately swamped by a forest of white and blue jerseys, but he still managed to fire off a shot.
It was a shot which drifted inches wides – the story of Donegal’s day.
In 2013, Monaghan celebrated their first provincial title in 25 years. Yesterday, they secured their second victory in two years.
Monaghan’s next outing will be an All-Ireland quarter-final in Croke Park. If Donegal are to reach the last eight, they will have to negotiate their way past a Galway side that has also beaten Armagh and Derry.
Player Ratings: Donegal
Paul Durcan: Came off his line sharply and smothered a shot by Dermot Malone but was correctly penalised for touching the ball on the ground. Was quick to change his kick-out strategy when Donegal struggled at midfield in the first half. 7
Paddy McGrath: Put in a very solid shift. Won kick-outs and executed his defensive duties with minimal fuss. When Donegal needed leaders at the death, it was McGrath who started the move that almost led to his team’s late equaliser. 7
Neil McGee: Employed every dark art in the book when marking Conor McManus. Referee David Coldrick was guilty of a total cop-out when he booked both players in the first half. Despite McGee’s antics, McManus still posted 0-3. 6.5
Eamon McGee: McGee has candidly admitted in interviews that Kieran Hughes “roasted” him in the 2013 final. But McGee got the upper hand yesterday as he dominated their uncompromising duel. 7
Ryan McHugh: McHugh was the man-of-the-match in last year’s final. He had too much pace and guile for Ryan Wylie. Malachy O’Rourke paid McHugh the compliment of detailing Darren Hughes to mark him out of the game. McHugh stood up to the challenge and helped launch Donegal’s comeback. 7
Karl Lacey: Made an excellent start when he clipped over a point in the second minute. Was having his standard game but a knee injury forced him to be withdrawn from the action. 6.5
Frank McGlynn: As one of Donegal’s specialist ball-carriers, McGlynn’s job is to puncture holes in the opposition defence. While McGlynn made a lot of runs, he failed to break the gain line and set-up scoring chances. 6.5
Neil Gallagher: Didn’t get everything his own way against the 6ft 3in Owen Lennon but came good when Donegal looked down and out. Won some crucial possession in the second half. 7
Odhrán Mac Niallais: After a series of impressive displays in the earlier rounds, Mac Niallais failed to make any impact on this game. Was well marshalled by Fintan Kelly. 5
Christy Toye: One of Donegal’s best players in the semi-final against Derry, Toye had a poor day at the office. After he was turned over by Ryan Wylie, Monaghan scored at the other end of the field. That mistake prompted his substitution. 5.5
Martin McElhinney: Lots of effort and industry but minimal reward. Got caught in possession a few times and was guilty of two wides in the second half. 6
Mark McHugh: Donegal’s comeback in the second half was engineered by the McHugh brothers and Neil Gallagher. A skilful and elusive ball-carrier, McHugh caused Monaghan problems when he ran at them. 7
Patrick McBrearty: McBrearty was the only Donegal forward to score from play. He might have missed the chance that could have drawn the game but he can’t be faulted for this result. His free-taking was excellent. 7
Michael Murphy: For the third Ulster final in-a-row, the Donegal captain was held scoreless by Vinny Corey. The Monaghan defender didn’t resort to any sinister tactics. He just marked him out of the game. 5.5
Colm McFadden: When Colm Anthony McFadden is good, he tends to be very, very good. And when he’s bad... This was one of those days when McFadden could do nothing right. The harder he tried the worse it got. 5.5
Substitutes
Martin O’Reilly: Replaced Christy Toye. Drew a free that was converted. 6
Anthony Thompson: Replaced Karl Lacey. Tried to break forward and make things happen but rarely got on the ball. 6
Darach O’Connor: Deployed at full-forward but Donegal didn’t kick any balls into that sector during the last quarter. 5.5
Leo McLoone: Not on long enough to be rated.
Player Ratings: Monaghan
STAR MAN
Conor McManus: One salient fact emerged in Clones yesterday – Conor McManus is the best forward in the country. Neil McGee tried to put the fear of God in McManus from the start, but it was wasted energy. It turned out McManus put the fear of God in McGee by running at him every time he got the ball in his hands. Won frees, converted them and scored three from play. Brilliant display
Rory Beggan: His defence protected him from having to deal with any one-on-one situations. His kick-outs were good for the most part and had one nervy moment from a high ball in the first half. 6.5
Dessie Mone: The Clontibret defender is absolutely crucial to the Monaghan effort. Tremendous on the front foot and could trust the team’s sweeper system to keep an eye on Colm McFadden. Hit a couple of wides but successfully hit one from distance that gave Monaghan a three-point first-half advantage. 8
Vinny Corey: It was no surprise the Clontibret man-marker shadowed Michael Murphy and, just as he did in 2013, Corey completely blotted out Donegal’s talisman. 8
Ryan Wylie: Found himself marking space a lot of the time but has the football intelligence to make good use of it. Broke out of defence at pace and never put a foot wrong. 7.5
Colin Walshe: Assigned the Patrick McBrearty portfolio and struggled with the Kilcar attacker’s pace at times. McBrearty got plenty of shots off but they were mostly under pressure. Minded the house and kept his forward dashes in check. 6.5
Fintan Kelly: Intercepted Michael Murphy’s dreadful crossfield pass to set up Conor McManus for a first-half injury-time score. Managed to bottle up Odhran MacNiallais for most of the game. 7
Karl O’Connell: A man-of-the-match contender. He really has improved Monaghan’s counter-attack this year and grabbed his mandatory point from play. Donegal couldn’t live with his speed. 8
Neil McAdam: An unassuming element of the Monaghan side and performed his midfield duties with typical diligence. Defensively sound and insulated the Farney defence from Martin McElhinney’s penetrative runs. 6
Darren Hughes: The short kick-out strategies meant that the Scotstown man wasn’t competing for many 50-50 balls. Had a job containing Ryan McHugh’s tricky runs in the second half and too eager in the tackle, which could have proved costly in the second half. 6
Owen Duffy: Played the lonely full-forward’s role for a period in the first half before drifting out to convert a chance. Dropped one short and hit a wide, but put in a good shift for the 46 minutes he was on the field. 6.5
Owen Lennon: Won a huge amount of primary possession and made life awkward for the in-form Neil Gallagher, but was visibly tiring in the final 10 minutes. 7.5
Kieran Duffy: Played the sweeper’s role to good effect and wasn’t afraid to steal forward to point on the half-hour mark. Donegal struggled to find a way around the Latton defender who is well-versed in the spare man role. 7
Dermot Malone: Had the only goal chance of the game but never looked like scoring from it. Set up a couple of scores in either half but was also turned over a handful of times. 6
Kieran Hughes: Never got much change out of Eamonn McGee throughout as the two men niggled one another from start to finish. 6
Substitutes
Ryan McAnespie: Lost one ball but retained possession well a couple of times. 5
Stephen Gollogly: Entered in the 54th minute in a bid to stop Frank McGlynn’s runs with little success. 5
Dick Clerkin: Got his hands on the ball twice and retained it in the dying embers. 5
