Ciaran McNally of Monaghan in action against Tommy Durnin of Louth during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 2 match between Monaghan and Louth at St Tiernach's Park in Clones, Monaghan. Photo by Philip Fitzpatrick/Sportsfile
All-Ireland SFC Group 4
Monaghan 2-10 Louth 2-10
Monaghan came from five points down midway through the second half to salvage a draw with neighbours Louth in front of over 11,000 in Clones. First-half goals by Craig Lennon and Conor Grimes had put Louth in pole position for a second win of the group stage, but despite being pegged back in the end, the draw will be enough for the Wee County to go through to the knock-outs.
Monaghan dug deep in the second half to halt their losing streak, helped by Mícheál Bannigan punishing a stray pass to hit an unguarded net. Their wait for a craved win goes on, however, after Sam Mulroy cancelled out a Rory Beggan free that had edged the hosts ahead for the only time late on.
Louth took an early lead with a brace of frees by Sam Mulroy, while it took a wasteful Monaghan side ten minutes to open their account through Joel Wilson. Mulroy had a goal-attempt from point-blank range saved by Rory Beggan, but he converted the resulting ’45 and Monaghan’s clean sheet only got a brief reprieve until Craig Lennon blasted home his third goal in two games.
Monaghan responded with a brilliantly-finished goal from Conor McCarthy, while points from Jack McCarron (free) and Kieran Duffy (mark) were cancelled out by Mulroy. Louth finished the first half on a high when Conor Grimes fired home their second goal to make it 2-5 to 1-3 at the break.
Monaghan started the second half with more purpose, hitting early points through Mícheál Bannigan, Gary Mohan and Ryan O’Toole. A Ryan Burns brace restored Louth’s four-point lead and although Ciarán McNulty got one back for Monaghan, Ciarán Downey and Mulroy replied for Louth, who passed up a great chance to go six clear going into the final quarter.
Conor McManus came on to kick a couple of frees on his 200th senior appearance for Monaghan, who got a major boost on the hour mark when Bannigan intercepted a loose pass deep inside the Louth half and deftly lobbed into an empty net. A trademark free by Rory Beggan had Monaghan ahead for the only time in the game, but Mulroy converted his seventh from a similar distance to level it up.
The game ended with seven scoreless minutes, which meant the teams had to settle for a point apiece. Louth remain second in Group 4 ahead of a final-round meeting with Kerry, while Monaghan will put their hopes of progressing on the line against Meath.
Scorers for Monaghan: Mícheál Bannigan 1-1; Conor McCarthy 1-0; Conor McManus 0-2f; Rory Beggan 0-1f; Ryan O’Toole 0-1; Kieran Duffy 0-1m; Gary Mohan 0-1; Joel Wilson 0-1; Ciarán McNulty 0-1; Jack McCarron 0-1f.
Scorers for Louth: Sam Mulroy 0-7 (6f, 1 ’45); Craig Lennon 1-0; Conor Grimes 1-0; Ryan Burns 0-2; Ciarán Downey 0-1.
Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Ryan O’Toole, Killian Lavelle, Ryan Wylie; Jason Irwin, Kieran Duffy (Capt.), Conor McCarthy; Gary Mohan, Joel Wilson; Michael Hamill, Mícheál Bannigan, Stephen O’Hanlon; Ryan McAnespie; Jack McCarron, Ciarán McNulty.
Subs: Karl O’Connell for Duffy (H-T); Conor McManus for McCarron (45); Andrew Woods for O’Connell (inj., 53); Seán Jones for Hamill (63); Mícheál McCarville for Wilson (70 + 3).
Louth: Niall McDonnell; Dónal McKenny, Dan Corcoran; Peter Lynch; Conall McKeever, Anthony Williams, Craig Lennon; Tommy Durnin, Conor Grimes; Niall Sharkey, Bevan Duffy, Ciarán Downey; Ryan Burns, Sam Mulroy (Capt.), Ciarán Keenan.
Subs: Leonard Grey for Lennon, Ciarán Byrne for Downey (inj.) (both 54); Paul Mathews for Sharkey (65); Tom Jackson for Burns (66).
Referee**:** Fergal Kelly (Longford).
