Dermot Malone takes the direct route towards the Donegal goal.

Allianz National Football League Division One

Donegal 1-4 Monaghan 0-9                                      8/3/15

 Monaghan bounced back to winning ways in the NFL with this hard-earned result against Donegal in Letterkenny on Sunday. Monaghan recovered from a slow start to end the first half on level terms and they moved ahead after the restart. Even a fisted goal by Michael Murphy couldn’t deter Monaghan, who hit the last four points through Paul Finlay (two), Rory Beggan and Fintan Kelly to claim a second win of the campaign ahead of a return to home soil against Derry next Sunday.

Donegal struck early when Michael Murphy won and scored a 13-metre free, before Patrick McBrearty repeated the trick. Another close-range free by Murphy, won by Ryan McHugh, moved Donegal three clear, but Kieran Hughes linked up with Conor McManus to get Monaghan off the mark on 11 minutes. McManus went on to convert a 25-metre free for a foul on Darren Hughes, but he was then shown a black card following an off-the-ball incident with Neil McGee. A 30-metre free by Paul Finlay brought Monaghan level and even though Murphy responded after Neil McAdam was adjudged to have touched the ball on the ground, Ryan McAnespie was brought down at the end of a strong run at the other end, allowing Finlay to tap over a close-in free and make it 0-4 apiece at half-time.

Monaghan edged ahead for the first time when Dermot Malone clipped over a point from play in the eighth minute of the second half, but they soon found themselves behind again when Murphy punched a high ball from Neil Gallagher into the net. A brace of 30-metre frees by Finlay, following fouls on Darren Hughes and Malone, brought Monaghan back on level terms, however, and they struck a crucial blow in a tense finish when Beggan nailed a tricky 50-metre free, earned by McAnespie. Finlay and substitute Thomas Kerr then combined well to set up Fintan Kelly to double Monaghan’s lead and secure a second win of the campaign for Malachy O’Rourke’s side, who host Derry in Clones this Sunday.

Donegal: P Durcan; P McGrath, N McGee, É Doherty; K Lacey, É McGee, F McGlynn; N Gallagher, O Mac Niallais; C Toye, M McHugh, R McHugh; P McBrearty (0-1f), M Murphy (Capt., 1-3, 0-3f), M O’Reilly.

Subs: M McElhinney for Toye, A Thompson for Doherty (both H-T), C McFadden for Lacey (37 mins), D McLaughlin for McBrearty (53), E McHugh for É McGee (54), G McFadden for Mac Niallais (67).

Monaghan: R Beggan (0-1f); C Boyle, V Corey, D Wylie; D Mone, F Kelly (0-1), K O’Connell; N McAdam, P Finlay (0-4f); R McAnespie, K Hughes (0-1), D Hughes; D Malone (0-1), C McManus (Capt., 0-1f), D McKenna.

Subs: T Kerr for McManus (black card, 25), O Duffy for McKenna (46), D Clerkin for McAdam (68).

Referee: P Hughes (Armagh).