Bank of Ireland Dr. McKenna Cup Section C

Monaghan 2-9 Armagh 0-16                        10/1/16

Monaghan fell to a second defeat of the Dr. McKenna Cup when a strong finish by Armagh earned the visitors a one-point win in Clones on Sunday. Goals in either half by Barry McGinn and Owen Duffy had Monaghan narrowly ahead for long spells of this competitive encounter, but Armagh gained the upper hand in the final quarter to stay in contention in Group C.

The Monaghan team featured ten changes from the previous week’s loss to Ulster University, with debuts for Rockcorry trio Jamie Smith, Niall McKeown and Fergal McGeough, as well as Dónal Courtney. Mark Thornton made a first start a week after coming on as a sub against UU, while Daryl Traynor later became Monaghan’s 11^th debutant of this month as a substitute.

An improved performance by Monaghan saw them lead by 1-6 to 0-7 at half-time, but Armagh reeled off five unanswered points between the 59^th and 68^th minutes to leave Monaghan still searching for their first win of 2016 ahead of Wednesday’s local derby away to Cavan.

Monaghan: J Smith; K Duffy (0-1), D Wylie, N McKeown; D Mone, C Walshe (Capt., 0-1), D Courtney; N McAdam, M Thornton; D Malone, S Gollogly, O Duffy (1-0); F McGeough, B McGinn (1-4, 0-4f), D McKenna (0-2, 1f).

Subs: K O’Connell (0-1) for McAdam (black card, 15), D Traynor for McGeough (44), K McQuaid for McKeown (inj., 50), O Coyle for Courtney (black card, 55), C McKenna for Gollogly (62).

Armagh: M McNiece; A Forker, A Findon, R McCaughey; C McKeever (Capt.), M Murray, S Forker (0-1); E Rafferty (0-3, 1f), N Grimley; E McVerry, M McKenna (0-1), S Campbell (0-5, 4f); G McParland (0-1), A Murnin (0-1), R Grugan (0-2).

Subs: N McConville (0-2) for Murnin (inj., 9), J Hall for McVerry (45), J Feeney for Findon (59), O Mac Íomhair for Grugan (black card, 70), P McKenna for McConville (black card, 71).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).