Shamrock Cup Final                                                    

Monaghan 4-8 Tyrone 0-6                 6/3/13                         

Monaghan won the Shamrock Cup for the first time since 2010 when they put Tyrone to the sword in the final at Emyvale on Wednesday night. First-half goals by Daniel McKenna, Shane O’Brien and Stephen Sherry put Monaghan in the driving seat and with eight players getting on the scoresheet, they were never going to be caught. Pete Dooney and Stephen Sherry were dominant at midfield for Monaghan, who also had good performances from Daniel McKenna, Conor Boyle, Ryan Wylie and substitute Keith McEnaney. They could even afford to kick 14 wides against a Tyrone side who failed to reach their potential on the night, with only Ronan O’Neill and Niall Sludden making any real impact.

Pete Dooney linked up with Shane Carey to open the scoring after five minutes and although Ronan O’Neill equalised after a one-two with Richard Donnelly, Monaghan hit the front on 11 minutes when a strong run by Dooney set up Daniel McKenna to crash a powerful shot in off the underside of the crossbar. Dooney quickly added his second point, although Tyrone hit back with a free from a difficult angle by Liam Girvan after a foul on John McCullagh and a point from play by O’Neill.

A well-worked move involving Shane Carey, Shane O’Brien and Pauric Graham released Daniel McKenna to kick a fine left-footed point, before Dooney again created a goal, this time for Shane O’Brien on 23 minutes. Just four minutes later, Monaghan had the ball in the net for a third time, when Stephen Sherry finished off after a great pass from Daniel McKenna. Ronan O’Neill punched a long-range Richard Donnelly free narrowly wide at the other end, before Girvan tapped over a 20-metre free for a foul on Ryan Devlin to make the half-time score: Monaghan 3-3 Tyrone 0-4.

Thomas Kerr kicked the first point of the second half after a clever pass by Johnny McGuigan and although Girvan replied from a free, a foul on Brian McQuaid allowed Monaghan goalkeeper and captain Rory Beggan to come forward and convert a 35-metre free.

Carey was denied by Tyrone keeper Mark McReynolds after he had won a long ball in from Thomas Connolly, but Monaghan didn’t have long to wait for their fourth major, which came when substitute Keith McEnaney got the slightest of touches to help a high centre from Pádraig McKenna past McReynolds. McEnaney raced onto a fine pass from Daniel McKenna to add a well-taken point and he landed another fine score two minutes later to end the scoring as Monaghan

Rory Beggan accepted the Shamrock Cup from Cremartin Shamrocks Chairman Brendan McNally after the match as the rain continued to pour down. Monaghan will now turn their full attention to the Ulster Under-21 Football Championship quarter-final against Cavan in two weeks’ time (March 20).

Monaghan: R Beggan (Capt., 0-1f); R Wylie, C Boyle, C Cromwell; B McQuaid, J McGuigan, P McKenna; S Sherry (1-0), P Dooney (0-2); T Connolly, S Carey (0-1f), S O’Brien (1-0); T Kerr (0-1), D McKenna (1-1), P Graham.

Subs: K McEnaney (1-2) for Graham (H-T), L Hahessy for Kerr (48 mins), J McCarron for D McKenna (52), A Courtney for Wylie (53), J Murphy for McQuaid (56).

Temporary sub: J McCarron for Kerr (44-47).

Tyrone: M McReynolds; D Quinn, C Clarke, HP McGeary; M Donaghy, N Sludden, R Loughran; H Óg Conlon, C Grugan; R Devlin, R O’Neill (0-2), L Girvan (0-3f); J McCullagh, R Donnelly, K McGeary.

Subs: T Canavan for Conlon (22), J Munroe (0-1) for Donaghy (H-T), E Deeney for Donnelly (47), P McNulty for Grugan, M Bradley for K McGeary (both 50).

Referee: S McKinney (Armagh).