Monaghan 3-7 v 4-10 Donegal

On Saturday last, Monaghan suffered a disappointing defeat to Donegal in the semi-final of the Ulster U17 League. Having finished top of their group, Monaghan had home advantage for the game which was played in Cloghan. Donegal finished runners-up in group B, with their only defeat coming against group winners Tyrone.

With a strong wind behind them, it was Donegal that started the brightest with two frees from Thomas McGowan in the opening 3 minutes. Monaghan slowly began to adapt to conditions and by the 8th minute, they went ahead when Cormac O Connor finished superbly to the net after excellent work by Michael O Brien. An Oran McElligot point from a free put the Monaghan lads two points up midway through the first half. Donegal then hit a goal and a point as the game swung in their favour. Aaron Mohan reduced the gap to a single point with a well taken score, but Donegal responded strongly and built up a 5 point lead as the half entered into injury time. Oran McElligot finished off a sweeping Monaghan move with well struck point to narrow the lead. At this stage, a 4 point half-time deficit after playing against a difficult wind would have been a satisfying position for the Farney men. However, things got even better when they were awarded a penalty with the last play of the half. It was a penalty that was borne out of excellent link-up play once again between Michael O Brien and Cormac O Connor that resulted in O Connor being upended just as he was shooting for goal. Oran McElligot stepped up and for the 2nd game in a row, dispatched the penalty confidently beyond the reach of the Donegal goalkeeper.

The story of the second half hinged on a controversial decision in the opening ten minutes when Monaghan were reduced to 14 men following the dismissal of Jamie Shields for a second yellow card. Aside from the fact that it was at best a very contentious decision, Shields had been a very strong presence for Monaghan in the opening half of the game. Despite this setback, Monaghan held their own and with ten minutes remaining, the teams were level at 3-5 to 2-4, with the Monaghan goal coming from McElligott again. With 7 minutes left however, Monaghan were dealt a fatal blow when Donegal hit the home side for a goal and a point within 60 seconds. Donegal immediately withdrew their forward line and set up a defensive wall that the Monaghan could find no way through. As Monaghan pushed forward in search of a goal, they were caught out as Donegal broke quickly from defense to score an injury-time goal that put a gloss on the final score.

Although disappointed not to reach the final, there is no doubt that this competition has been of great value to Paul Curran’s team. With 10 of last year’s Buncrana Cup winner team being part of this year’s minor panel, it has given other players the opportunity to step up and test themselves at county level. New players to the panel such as Oran McEligott, Michael O Brien and Calum Blanche have all had an excellent campaign and adapted well to county football, whilst Cormac O Connor, Oisin Gleeson and Matthew Ward have continued where they left off last year with stand-out performances in each league game. The panel will meet regularly over the next few months to continue their development towards being senior inter-county footballers for Monaghan in the future.

Monaghan Scorers: Oran McElligot (2-3), Cormac O Connor (1-2), Aaron Mohan (0-1), Ed Walsh (0-1)

Starting Line-up: Cian McCarney (Clones); Jamie Shields (Monaghan Harps), Calum Blanche (Aughnamullen), Matthew Ward (Ballybay); Oisin Gleeson (Aghabog), Seamus Kindon (Inniskeen), Conor McCabe (Latton); Hugh McGinn (Doohamlet), Karl McMenamin (Carrickmacross); Ed Walsh (Killanny), Aaron Mohan (Truagh), Oran Martin (Donaghmoyne); Oran McElligot (Truagh), Michael O Brien(Emyvale), Cormac O Connor (Donaghmoyne)

Subs used:Stephen Irwin (Oram), Paul Monaghan (Eire Og)