Power NI Dr. McKenna Cup Section B

Monaghan 1-16 St. Mary’s University 0-8                                      12/1/14

Monaghan got their first win of 2014 when they comfortably saw off St. Mary’s, Belfast in Clones on Sunday. Monaghan led from start to finish as they made it three consecutive wins over the Belfast college, with ten players getting on the scoresheet. In an improved team performance, Jack McCarron led the scoring with 1-5 and Ryan Wylie, Thomas Kerr, Paul Finlay and Pádraic Keenan also showed some good form, with Peter Carragher, Thomas Canavan and Ronan Sexton best for St. Mary’s.

Jack McCarron opened the scoring from a 40-metre free after a foul on Karl O’Connell and a poor kick-out by Darragh McAnenly allowed Christopher McGuinness to double Monaghan’s lead. McGuinness then had a great chance to score his second goal in consecutive games when he raced onto a Pádraic Keenan pass, but his shot fizzed wide. Karl O’Connell landed a fine point from the right wing and McCarron got on the end of a counter-attack started by Dessie Mone to double his tally, before St. Mary’s got off the mark with a 15^th-minute point by Ryan Johnston. Brendan Hasson added a good score for the visitors, but Thomas Kerr opened his account from a 25-metre free, following a foul on Pádraig Donaghy. Kerr quickly added a brace of well-taken points – the first with his right foot at the end of a move involving Mone and Shane Smyth and the second after Smyth had knocked a Donaghy shot down for him – before McGuinness released McCarron, whose brilliant pick-up made room for a shot, which St. Mary’s keeper Darragh McAnenly tipped over the bar. McCarron added a superb outside-of-the-boot effort from distance at the end of a patient Monaghan attack, which also saw Johnston shown the first black card of the game for a late tackle on Donaghy. Thomas Canavan converted a 45-metre free in added time, but he missed a more straightforward chance a minute later, leaving Monaghan ahead by 0-9 to 0-3 at half-time.

Shane Smyth won a McGuinness sideline and fisted over to start the second half and although a foul on Barry O’Hagan allowed Canavan to score a 30-metre free, a long ball from Paul Finlay to McGuinness created a point for McCarron. A counter-attack involving McCarron, O’Connell and Finlay finished with Kieran Duffy tapping over, but Monaghan then needed debutant goalkeeper Gerard McCaffrey to make a save from Peter Carragher after they had given the ball away cheaply. Finlay sent over a booming effort from all of 50 metres out and Monaghan then struck the only goal of the game when a high ball by Keenan fell for McCarron to send a smart first-time effort past McAnenly. Carragher fired a goal-attempt into the side-netting at the other end, Donaghy linked up with O’Connell to find his range. St. Mary’s sub Ronan Sexton tapped over a close-range free for a foul on O’Hagan, which saw Duffy shown Monaghan’s first black card, but Stephen Gollogly replied for the hosts. Canavan pointed his third free, but a spectacular long-range effort then made Dick Clerkin his side’s tenth scorer and even though Aidan McGarrity and Sexton hit late points, they were mere consolations for St. Mary’s. Monaghan travel to Enniskillen on Wednesday evening to face Fermanagh, needing another win to have a chance of making the semi-finals.

Monaghan: G McCaffrey; F Kelly, K Duffy (0-1), R Wylie; K O’Connell (0-1), C Galligan, D Mone (Capt.); G Doogan, P Finlay (0-1); P Keenan, P Donaghy (0-1), T Kerr (0-3, 1f); J McCarron (1-5, 0-1f), S Smyth (0-1), C McGuinness (0-1).

Subs: S Gollogly (0-1) for McGuinness (45 mins), D Clerkin (0-1) for Finlay (47), C Boyle for Doogan (51), D Malone for Duffy (black card, 56), S Carey for McCarron (57), P Finlay for Carey (black card, 70).

St. Mary’s: D McAnenly; D Morrow, N Donnelly, M Murray; C McMahon, R Loughran, C McCann; P Carragher, B Hasson (0-1); R O’Callaghan, A Forker, R Johnston (0-1); B O’Hagan, K McKernan, T Canavan (0-3f).

Subs: J Duffy for McCann (15 mins), R Sexton (0-2, 1f) for Forker (inj., 21), A McGarrity (0-1) for Johnston (black card, 34), S Mullan for Morrow (H-T), E Magee for McMahon (44), T McCaffrey for O’Hagan (61).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).