Bank of Ireland Dr. McKenna Cup Section A

Monaghan 0-11 Down 1-12                          11/1/15

Monaghan’s bid for qualification from Section A of the Dr. McKenna Cup will go down to the wire after this four-point defeat against Down in Clones on Sunday. After conceding a first-minute goal to Dónal O’Hare, Monaghan battled back to edge ahead on a couple of occasions either side of half-time, but Down hit five unanswered points between the 54^th and 67^th minutes to secure a first win under new manager Jim McCorry. Monaghan were unable to match their encouraging opening performance in last week’s win over UUJ and they were grateful to goalkeeper Enda  Duffy, who made a number of timely interventions in a Man-of-the-Match performance, for keeping them in the game.

Down made a cracking start with a Dónal O’Hare goal inside half a minute and although Paul Meegan got a good point for Monaghan after playing a one-two with Dermot Malone from a free, Packie Downey quickly replied. Both teams had goal chances, with Down’s Cathal Crilly dragging one wide and Meegan being denied by Kieran Gordon, following a clever pass by Daniel McKenna. Left-footed points by Darren Hughes and McKenna, the latter created by Meegan, brought Monaghan back into it and Neil McAdam equalised with a fine score from distance. McKenna edged Monaghan ahead for the first time from a 20-metre free after a foul on Meegan, but a short ’45 by O’Hare allowed Niall Madine to draw Down level, before O’Hare won and scored a 25-metre free. Paddy Kieran finished well at the end of a move involving Hughes, Brian Greenan and McKenna, only for O’Hare to set up Kevin McKernan for a stylish point. A well-taken point by Thomas Connolly brought Monaghan back on terms, before Dermot Malone crashed a shot off the crossbar at the end of an attack involving Hughes and McKenna. Enda Duffy did well at the other end to save from Down sub Arthur McConville, who had been released by Paul Devlin, before McKernan landed another outside-of-the-boot effort to send Down in leading by 1-5 to 0-7.

Enda Duffy again denied McConville four minutes into the second half, with Devlin converting the resulting ’45 to double Down’s advantage. Hughes responded with a smartly-taken point at the end of a strong run and substitute Paul Finlay also finished well from a narrow angle, after McKenna had converted another 30-metre free, to hand Monaghan the initiative, but Down hit back through subs Conor Garvey and McConville. O’Hare clipped over a left-footed shot to keep Down on the front foot and it needed another Enda Duffy intervention to prevent a Conor Laverty pass potentially leading to a second goal for the visitors. McConville punched a Devlin ’45 just across Duffy’s goal in the 59^th minute and Devlin then found his range from a 40-metre free, following a foul on Laverty, before another replacement, Kevin Anderson, became Down’s eighth scorer. A Down player touching the ball on the ground allowed Finlay to tap over a close-range free, but a well-struck point by Devlin gave Down their insurance score late on.

Monaghan: E Duffy; K O’Connell, P McGuigan, R Wylie; P Kieran (0-1), D Wylie (Capt.), M McElroy; D Hughes (0-2), N McAdam (0-1); B Greenan, D Malone, T Connolly (0-1); T Kerr, D McKenna (0-3, 2f), P Meegan (0-1).

Subs: O Duffy for Greenan, S Carey for Kerr (both 45 mins), P Finlay (0-2, 1f) for D Wylie (46), D Mone for Kieran (56), John McCarron for R Wylie (inj., 61), S Gollogly for Connolly (66).

Down: K Gordon; D O’Hagan, L Howard, G Collins; D Turley, B McArdle, M Magee; P Fitzpatrick, N Madine (0-1); P Devlin (0-3, 1f, 1 ’45), P Downey (0-1), K McKernan (0-2); C Laverty (Capt.), C Crilly, D O’Hare (1-2, 0-1f).

Subs: A McConville (0-1) for Downey (inj., 28), C McKay for Crilly (46), C Garvey (0-1) for Howard (49), L Howard for Fitzpatrick (53), K Anderson (0-1) for McKernan (inj. 64.).

Referee: B Cassidy (Derry).