Eirgrid Ulster Under-21 Football Championship Semi-Final

Monaghan 2-16 Armagh 0-9                                    30/3/16

Monaghan qualified for the Ulster U-21 FC Final for the first time since 2007 with a commanding win over Armagh in Newry on Wednesday night. Monaghan trailed by 0-6 to 0-4 on the 20-minute mark, but they outscored Armagh by 2-12 to 0-3 over the remaining two-thirds of the game. Five unanswered points before half-time had Monaghan 0-9 to 0-6 up and although Armagh hit the first two scores after the restart, it was one-way traffic from then on. Fearghal McMahon came off the bench to net a penalty in the 37^th minute and with nine players getting on the scoresheet for Monaghan, they convincingly qualified for next Wednesday’s final against Tyrone. Another sub, Francis Maguire, added the second goal late on as Monaghan’s subs chipped in with 2-3.

Monaghan: C Forde (0-2f); B Kerr, M Murnaghan (0-1), K Loughran (Capt.); D Ward (0-2), J Mealiff, N Rooney; N Loughman, A Lynch (0-1); R McAnespie, B McGinn (0-3, 2f), D Meegan; M O’Dowd, C McCarthy (0-4, 2f), A Treanor.

Subs: F McMahon (1-2, 1-0 pen) for Treanor (34 mins), F Maguire (1-0) for O’Dowd (40), C Rice for Ward (54), B McBennett (0-1) for Meegan, M McCarville for Lynch (both 57), A Kieran for Mealiff (60).

Armagh: B Hughes; G McCabe (Capt.), A Rushe, J Cosgrove; C McConville (0-1), S Heffron, J McElroy; D McKenna, O O’Neill (0-2, 1f); P Quinn (0-1), J Rafferty, C Boylan; C McKenna (0-2), S McPartlan, C Martin (0-2).

Subs: J Freeman (0-1) for Quinn (inj., 11), R Finn for Heffron (black card, 22), J Óg Burns for Rafferty (27), A Conlan for McPartlan (46), P Savage for D McKenna (50).

Referee: R Barry (Down).