Ulster SFC Final /Tyrone 1-15 Monaghan 1-13:Romantic tales of upheaval arrive like meteorites in the football championship. One hits and that's it for decades. Yet how close this came to being the second one within a week. The mighty beware - this could still be meteorite season.
After the shocking impact out west last Sunday the attention had shifted north, only this time the old order survived. Just about. What seemed like an unstoppable succession of goal chances in the dying moments had the game crying out for at least a replay, but it wasn't to be.
Tyrone held out by the thickness of their skin and the rawness of their nerves. They have three weeks before their All-Ireland quarter-final, while Monaghan were drawn against Donegal in the final round of the qualifiers.
While Tyrone collected a third Ulster title in seven years, it wasn't exactly the ruthless display of potential All-Ireland winners, although that would take from a Monaghan performance that surpassed most expectations, even in the moment of defeat.
In the end, the Tyrone players stood in the blazing sunshine of Clones with hands on hips, looking typically unruffled by the intense battle that had ensued. And the Monaghan players were on their knees, already revisiting some of the scenes that will no doubt have them screaming in their sleep all week.
For a start there were the two late goal chances for Vincent Corey, one of which was brilliantly saved by Tyrone goalkeeper John Devine, and the other he somehow blasted over the bar instead of under it.
Corey, by the way, started as Monaghan's full back, but his switch to full forward in the second half was one of several key changes that turned the earlier seeming inevitability of this game in its head.
Paul Finlay was a late addition to their line-up, originally ruled out with illness. When he dropped back to centre forward in the second half, directing long ball in towards Corey, Tyrone looked particularly vulnerable - and by the end it was clear Ciarán Gourley would do well to hold on to the number three shirt for the next day.
Up to that point it was a typically thumping and bruising Ulster final, hard tackling and crowded in front of a 34,000 sell-out. Yet Tyrone had gradually stolen the momentum, urged on by Philip Jordan's early goal, the tirelessly industrious Seán Cavanagh at midfield, and the calm free-talking of Colm McCullagh and Owen Mulligan.
Simple mistakes are often the difference between winning and losing Ulster football finals, and Monaghan were certainly guilty in the opening exchanges. Unforgivably slow to settle, they went the first eight minutes without a score - by which stage Tyrone had 1-3, with Jordan's goal on seven minutes coming off a brilliant one-two with Ger Cavlan.
Cavanagh was displaying his powers between midfield and the half-forward line and when he broke through to push Tyrone 1-5 to 0-1 ahead he already seemed a morale-crusher for Monaghan.
Without Cavanagh Tyrone would have been in trouble, but with him they remain one of the hardest teams to break down.
Tyrone were still in charge at half time, up 1-8 to 0-7, but at least Monaghan had hinted at a fight back. Eoin Lennon, John Paul Mone and Dick Clerkin showed up for immeasurable amount of ball at midfield, with Rory Woods and Ciarán Hanratty helping convert that to scores - with another two quick points in the 23rd minute from Hanley and Lennon briefly bringing them back to within three.
Still, Monaghan needed to shake things up in the second half, and Corey's switching of ends did exactly that. It took a while to bear fruit, however, and when Cavanagh strolled through for his third point on 48 minutes Tyrone went eight points clear - 1-13 to 0-8 - and the game was in the danger of breathing its last breath.
But on 51 minutes came the Monaghan goal that changed everything. Finlay provided Corey with the perfect ball in front of goal, and although he looked to have hesitated a moment too long, he finally fed out to Thomas Freeman, who made no mistake. To recreate the noise level experienced in Clones at that stage one would need to blow up a TNT factory.
It brought Monaghan back yo within touching distance, 1-13 to 1-9. Thomas Freeman converted a free, which had bordered on a penalty, and added a third point on 60 minutes which kept the margin down to three.
The final 10 minutes were therefore played out in a frenzied state. Tyrone started to look ragged, with Brian Dooher clearly lacking his usual fitness, Cavlan gone off injured, and their entire defence looking increasingly shaky with every ball. Raymond Mulgrew lost some of his vision too and was replaced.
Under those conditions Corey's goal chance was fast coming, and Devine showed great alertness to stop his first shot on 68 minutes. At the other end Mulligan had one glorious chance to seal it, his thundering shot coming off the crossbar, although he did convert a free moments later.
The three minutes of added time were all about Monaghan, with Finlay's free closing it to three again before Corey's last gasp effort - coming right at the end - went over the wrong side of the crossbar to qualify as a meteorite.
Finlay had taken a quick free, slipped it out to Rory Woods, who handed off to Corey, and if he'd thought another split second about his shot he could well have found the target. Plenty of time to reflect over it in his sleep.
TYRONE: 1 J Devine; 6 C Gormley, 3 C Gourley, 2 R McMenamin; 5 D Harte (0-1), 4 D Carlin (0-1), 7 P Jordan (1-0); 14 K Hughes, 9 S Cavanagh (0-4); 8 J McMahon, 11 R Mulgrew, 10 B Dooher; 13 C McCullagh (0-5, four frees), 12 G Cavlan (0-1), 15 O Mulligan (0-3, all frees). Subs: 27 S O'Neill for Cavlan (54 mins); 25 J McMahon for Harte (55 mins); 23 E McGinley for Mulgrew (60 mins); 28 M Penrose for McCullagh (67 mins); 22 D McCaul for Carlin (71 mins). Yellow cards: O Mulligan (26 mins), B Dooher (50 mins)
MONAGHAN: 1 S Duffy; 2 D Mone, 3 V Corey (0-1), 4 D McArdle; 5 D Morgan, 6 G McQuaid, 7 D Freeman; 8 E Lennon (0-1), 10 D Clerkin; 9 JP Mone, 14 R Woods (0-1), 12 S Gollogly (0-1); 13 C Hanratty (0-1), 30 P Finlay (0-5, four frees), 15 T Freeman (1-3, one free). Subs: 27 C McManus for Hanratty (45 mins); 17 C Flanagan for Morgan (50 mins); 28 P Meegan for Gollogly (55 mins); 11 S Smith for JP Mone (60 mins). Yellow cards: V Corey (9 mins), S Gollogly (18 mins), G McQuaid (21 mins), D Clerkin (39 mins), E Lennon (60 mins), D Freeman (67), D Mone (70 mins).
Referee: D Fahy (Longford)
