Allianz National Football League Division Two

Donegal 2-11 Monaghan 0-10                                  2/3/13

Monaghan fell to their first defeat of this year’s NFL Division Two against a fired-up Donegal in front of a crowd of approximately 7,000 in Letterkenny on Sunday. Monaghan were always facing an uphill battle after conceding goals to Odhrán Mac Niallais and Colm McFadden in the opening quarter and although they competed better in the second half, there was no way back. Mac Niallais was the star of the show for Donegal, with good support from Ryan McHugh, Rory Kavanagh and Martin McElhinney, while Kieran Hughes, Conor McManus and Drew Wylie were best for Monaghan.

Monaghan survived a nervy moment early on when Rory Beggan dealt with a dangerous free by Colm McFadden, dropping on top of Michael Murphy, while Donegal then opened the scoring when McFadden won and scored a 35-metre free. Odhrán Mac Niallais then cut through the Monaghan defence to fire home the opening goal and even though Conor McManus won and scored a 35-metre free to get Monaghan off the mark, they then fell further behind when referee Barry Cassidy ruled that Rory Beggan had kicked a rolling ball from a kick-out and threw the ball up on the 20-metre line, with Donegal working it to Rory Kavanagh, who finished well. McManus linked up with Conor Boyle to get a point back for Monaghan, but as the game reached the one-quarter mark, Dermot Molloy took a Ryan McHugh pass and burst through before sending a perfectly-weighted pass across goal for McFadden to punch home. Mac Niallais added a point at the end of a move involving Christy Toye and Martin McElhinney, who got his own name on the scoresheet after good work by Murphy. A well-worked counter-attack involving Ryan Wylie, Kieran Hughes, Fintan Kelly and Jack McCarron released McManus to end 19 scoreless minutes for Monaghan and he also sent over a 25-metre free after Neil McGee was adjudged to have over-carried. Monaghan did have another chance to reduce their deficit, but a McCarron free came back off the upright and McManus was subsequently bottled up, leaving the half-time score 2-4 to 0-4.

Mark McHugh set up Mac Niallais to curl over a fine score five minutes into the second half and the newcomer then created a goal chance for Leo McLoone, which was saved by Beggan. Kelly got forward to clip over a left-footed effort for Monaghan and McCarron added a fine point after a flowing move featuring Gavin Doogan, Drew Wylie and Karl O’Connell, but McFadden responded with a point and Murphy converted a 30-metre free won by McLoone. Doogan and McCarron combined to put Dermot Malone through on goal, but his shot was comfortably saved by Paul Durcan, although the Donegal keeper touched the ball on the ground in the process, allowing McCarron to tap over a close-range free. Donegal sub Paddy McBrearty landed a brace of well-taken points – the latter after good approach play by Mark McHugh and McElhinney – while at the other end; Malone dummied Durcan only to see his shot cleared off the line for a ’45 which Beggan sent over the bar. Dessie Mone kicked a fine point for Monaghan, but Declan Walsh fisted over at the other end after terrific skill by Mac Niallais, who finished the game with a late point just after McManus had pointed a 30-metre free for a foul on Dick Clerkin. Monaghan host Louth this Sunday, while table-toppers Donegal have another home game against Meath.

Donegal: P Durcan; K Lacey, N McGee, R McHugh; F McGlynn, L McLoone, A Thompson; R Kavanagh (0-1), M McElhinney (0-1); M McHugh, C Toye, O Mac Niallais (1-3); C McFadden (1-2, 0-1f), M Murphy (Capt., 0-1f), D Molloy.

Subs: P McBrearty (0-2) for Molloy, N Gallagher for Kavanagh, D O’Connor for Toye (all 40 mins), M O’Reilly for McElhinney (63), Declan Walsh (0-1) for McGlynn (69).

Monaghan: R Beggan (0-1, ’45); R Wylie, D Wylie, F Kelly (0-1); C Boyle, C Walshe, P Keenan; G Doogan, P Finlay; K Hughes, C McGuinness, T Kerr; D Malone, J McCarron (0-2, 1f), C McManus (Capt., 0-5, 3f).

Subs: P Donaghy for Kerr (25 mins), D Clerkin for Finlay, K O’Connell for Keenan (both H-T), D Mone (0-1) for Boyle (41), V Corey for R Wylie (51).

Referee: B Cassidy (Derry).