Shamrock Cup First Round
Monaghan 0-12 Antrim 0-10 28/1/12
Monaghan held off a second-half comeback from Antrim to get their Shamrock Cup campaign off to a winning start in Clones on Saturday. A strong first-half performance saw Monaghan take a seven-point lead in at the interval, but Antrim had the gap down to a point inside the last five minutes before Shane Carey’s fourth point secured the spoils for Eamon McEneaney’s side. Monaghan, who were without Kieran Duffy and Pauric Boyle and re-introduced Daniel McKenna as a half-time sub, will have plenty to work on after failing to maintain their early form and not taking any of the goal chances they created. Carey and Shane Coyle were a handful for the Antrim defence throughout, while Peter O’Hanlon got through a lot of good work at midfield and Owen Coyle and Johnny McGuigan excelled in defence. Colin Duffin, substitute Ronan McGrady and James Laverty led the Antrim charge.
Monaghan made the first of a handful of goal opportunities on five minutes, when Keith McEnaney charged through, only to have his shot saved by Antrim keeper Kyle Allsopp. McEnaney kicked the game’s first point at the end of a well-worked move involving Peter O’Hanlon, Shane Coyle and Ryan Courtney, before Brendan McElroy doubled Monaghan’s lead after McEnaney had broken a long ball from Pete Dooney down to Courtney. Colm Duffin got on the end of a pass from Stephen Tully at the other end on 12 minutes, but Monaghan keeper Rory Beggan was alert to the danger and he made a good save.
Shane Carey linked up with O’Hanlon to increase Monaghan’s advantage, which became four when Shane Coyle won and scored a 25-metre free. Another flowing attack featuring Owen Coyle, Conor McEnaney and Johnny McGuigan created a point for Damien McArdle, before a string burst by Niall McKeown set up Carey for his second point. Shane Coyle made it seven without reply for Monaghan, before O’Hanlon curled over a great score with the outside of his left boot. Antrim finally got off the mark on 26 minutes when Ronan McGrady converted a 30-metre free for a foul on James Laverty, but Monaghan still led by 0-8 to 0-1 at half-time.
Another McGrady free dropped short to allow Duffin to kick Antrim’s first point from play a minute into the second half, before McGrady found his range from another 25-metre free, although O’Hanlon replied for the hosts. Duffin added another point from play and substitute Stephen O’Connor landed a fine effort from a difficult angle to kick-start Antrim’s comeback and they closed the gap to just three when Declan Lynch kicked their sixth successive point. Carey took a pass from Conor McEnaney to slot over Monaghan’s first score of the second half at the end of the third quarter, but Duffin won and scored a 20-metre free before booting over a well-taken point from play. Shane Coyle burst through to get an important point for Monaghan after good approach play by Paddy McGuigan and O’Hanlon.
McGrady kicked a point from play and he added another from a 20-metre free following a foul on Lynch to reduce the gap to the minimum, before Monaghan went within inches of finding the net when Shane Coyle latched onto a Carey pass and rounded Antrim sub keeper Danny McErlane, only to see his shot deflected onto the post by a despairing dive from a couple of Antrim defenders. Carey pointed a 25-metre free to give Monaghan some breathing space after he himself had been fouled and they almost finished on a high when O’Hanlon punched a Dooney centre off the post. Monaghan finished winners with two points to spare and they will look to build on this result in their upcoming games against Meath and Tyrone – details of fixtures to follow.
Monaghan: R Beggan; N McKeown, P McGuigan, C Boyle; D McArdle (0-1), J McGuigan, O Coyle; P O’Hanlon (0-2), P Dooney; C McEnaney, S Carey (0-4, 1f), R Courtney; S Coyle (0-3, 1f), K McEnaney (0-1), B McElroy (0-1).
Subs: D McKenna for Courtney, D Carragher for McArdle (both H-T), T Connolly for C McEnaney (55 mins), S McElroy for P McGuigan (59).
Antrim: K Allsopp; C Herron, C Sherrin, M Hynes; D Stranney, D Quinn, S Tierney; O Gallagher, J Carron; D Lynch (0-1), S Tully, J Laverty; F Johnston, C Duffin (0-4, 1f), N O’Neill.
Subs: R McGrady (0-4, 3f) for Tully (18), S McAlone for Johnston (22), D McErlane for Allsopp (H-T), S O’Connor (0-1) for Gallagher (38), C McElvaney for Tierney (52).
Referee: E McConnell (Tyrone).
By michael Sat 28th Jan
