MONAGHAN U17s QUALIFY FOR ULSTER LEAGUE FINAL
Monaghan’s U-17 squad are through to the Ulster U-17 Minor Football League Final against Donegal next Saturday after a great 3-11 to 1-9 win over Tyrone at Inniskeen on Saturday last.
Monaghan led by four points at the break in a game that was played in a sporting manner throughout. An early second half goal gave Monaghan a commanding lead which they held onto until the end.
However, an unseemly incident before the final whistle resulted in five red cards being issued to players from both sides.
The Red Hands took the lead with a brace of points from Daniel Fullerton and Mark Hayes, but Monaghan soon responded with an inspirational 45 from goalkeeper Ryan Farrelly. This was quickly followed by another score from Jason Irwin to leave the sides level after 15 minutes.
The teams were still level after 21 minutes; however Loughlin Power latched on to an incoming high ball and palmed it home to the net for Monaghan’s opening goal. A brace of points then from Aaron Mulligan left Monaghan 1-5 to 0-3 clear after 26 minutes.
Mark Hayes responded with a point for Tyrone, to leave the half time score Monaghan 1-5, Tyrone 0-4.
Monaghan led by four points at the break in a game that was played in a sporting manner throughout. An early second half goal gave Monaghan a commanding lead which they held onto until the end.
As stated earlier, an unseemly incident before the final whistle resulted in five red cards being issued to players from both sides.
Monaghan made the dream start to the second half when a shot rebounded off the crossbar, fell into Sean Jones’ path, before he slammed home from close range for the Farney’s second goal.
Despite a quick reply from Tyrone sub Stephen Grogan with a point, Jones then raised two more white flags with the resulting frees, to put Monaghan 2-7 to 0-5 in front by the 40th minute.
Another Tyrone sub, Shea Daly, scored two unanswered points as a Tyrone comeback began to be a possibility. This was further heightened by three attempts on goal during the second half, but Monaghan goalkeeper Ryan Farrelly stood firm on each occasion.
A trading of scores kept the gap at six points before Aaron Mulligan finally put the game to bed for Monaghan, when he soloed up the field from the right-hand side, before placing the ball into the top-left hand corner of the net for Monaghan’s third goal.
Tyrone did manage to raise a green flag with a consolation goal through Mark Hayes, their last score of the game, to leave eight points between the teams at the finish.
Before the final whistle sounded, a melee suddenly broke out between both teams deep into injury time and when matters were settled, Tyrone’s Stephen Grogan, Daniel Fullerton and Cormac Quinn were all given their marching orders by referee Darren O’Hare.
Monaghan for their part lost Ryan Farrelly and corner back Ronan Grimes to red cards in the same incident. The Farneymen had also lost Andrew Moore a few minutes earlier for a second bookable offence.
MONAGHAN: Ryan Farrelly (0-1), Ronan Grimes, Jack Doogan, Shane Hanratty, Christopher Flood, Breandán Óg O’Dufaigh, Jordan McGarrell, Andrew Moore, Joel Wilson, Aaron Mulligan (1-5), Seán Jones (1-2), Karl Gallagher, Donnacha Swinburne (0-2), Loughlin Power (1-0), Jason Irwin (0-1).
Subs: Mark Mooney for Jordan McGarrell, Jack McGeown for Joel Wilson, Ronan McKeown for Aaron Mulligan, Robbie Hanratty for Seán Jones, Óisin O’Hanlon for Jason Irwin Eoin Duffy for Jack Doogan
TYRONE: Oran Grimes, Cormac Quinn, Ruairi Donnelly, Cormac McBride, Tom Donnahan, Lorcan McBride, Conal Devlin, Kevin Barker, Óisin McHugh, Ronan Duffin, Michael McGleenan (0-1), Paddy McCallan, Daniel Fullerton (0-1), Cormac Hughes, Mark Hayes (1-4).
Subs: Shay Daly (0-2) for Tom Donnahan, Brian Conway for Lorcan McBride, Aodhán McConnell for Conal Devlin, Ben Grogan for Ronan Duffin, Simon Garrity for Paddy McCallan, Stephen Grogan (0-1) for Cormac Hughes.
By Majella Boyd Sat 7th Apr
