Monaghan meet Tyrone in the final of the Shamrock Cup at the home of tournament organisers Cremartin this Sunday. This follows a group campaign where Finbarr Fitzpatrick’s side defeated Louth and Antrim, either side of a loss to Sunday’s opponents.

Monaghan started with a 1-19 to 1-11 win over Louth in Inniskeen on February 1. Conor McCarthy and Alan McCahey were in fine form throughout for Monaghan, kicking seven points each, while Fergal McGeough hit a cracking goal as the hosts dominated. A late burst of 1-1, including a goal from a penalty, put a gloss on the scoreboard for Louth.

Monaghan: D Kirk; A Kieran, M Murnaghan, F Malone; P Keenan (0-1), K Loughran, C Rice; M McCarville, B Greenan (0-1); F McGeough (1-1), S Buckley (0-1), D Ward; C McCarthy (0-7, 1f), D Dolan (0-1), A McCahey (0-7, 3f).

Subs: D McElroy (Donaghmoyne) for Rice (36 mins), J Beattie for McCarville (49), S Mohan for McGeough (52), S Kerr for Ward (inj., 55), D McElroy (Latton) for McCahey (58).

Monaghan then fell to a disappointing 1-15 to 0-9 defeat against Tyrone in Garvaghey on February 6. The teams were level at 0-5 apiece at half-time, but Tyrone took charge after the restart, with Frank Burns influential at midfield and Ruairí McGlone notching the only goal. Tyrone were on top in all sectors in a game where Monaghan failed to score from play, with all nine of their points coming from frees; including five by Dónal Meegan.

Monaghan: C Forde; C Meegan, K Loughran, F Malone; P Keenan, D Ward, S Conlon; D Dolan, B Greenan; F McGeough (0-1f), S Buckley, D Meegan (0-5f); C McCarthy, M McCarville (0-1f), A McCahey (0-2f).

Subs: D McAlister for McCarthy, F McMahon for McCarville, A Kieran for Buckley, M Murnaghan for Conlon, B Hanratty for Ward, J Beattie for Dolan.

Monaghan secured their place in the final when they defeated Antrim by 2-8 to 1-6 at Páirc Grattan last Friday night. Goals by Dónal Meegan and Donaghmoyne’s Darren McElroy had Monaghan in the driving seat by the end of the first half and they did enough to return to winning ways at the expense of a wasteful Antrim side.

Monaghan: D Kirk; A Kieran, K Loughran, S Kerr; S Mohan (0-1), M Murnaghan, D McAlister (0-1); D Dolan (0-1), C Lavelle (0-1); R McAnespie, D McMahon, D Freeman; D Meegan (1-0), D McElroy (Donaghmoyne, 1-0), F McMahon (0-3f).

Subs: M McCarville for McElroy (36), B Greenan for Murnaghan (40), C McCarthy (0-1) for F McMahon, F Malone for Kieran, F McGeough for D McMahon (all 44), P Keenan for Freeman (47), D McElroy (Latton) for Meegan.