All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Monaghan 0-14 Armagh 0-14 [After extra time, Monaghan win 9-8 on penalties]
Stereotyping matches in advance isn’t always useful. Take Saturday’s All-Ireland football quarter-final between Armagh and Monaghan. The counties have a history of meeting, both in Ulster and nationally, but the advance publicity suggested a grim, dour encounter.
Which is exactly what we got for most of the 90 minutes to which the contest was excruciatingly extended.
The scoreline of 14 points apiece tells its own story. What it doesn’t tell is how grindingly, compellingly competitive it all was, with the teams level 14 times – neither managing a two-point lead at any stage.
Nor the agonising tension of the longest and best executed penalty shoot-out the GAA has seen in the intercounty championship. Nor the sheer joy of Monaghan at yet again beating the odds and reaching just the third All-Ireland semi-final in the lifetime of any supporters younger than 35.
Rory Beggan took the immediate plaudits. Earlier he had also kept out a close-range chance for Conor Tubritt.
His two saves in the denouement from the luckless Callum Cumiskey – ironically the only Armagh player to convert his kick in the county’s previous shoot-out in the Ulster final – were vital, the first excellent.
They needed to be. Just one player on either side failed to convert in the first round of five kicks and after the second round, which was sudden death, no one failed until the same two players, Gary Mohan and Cumiskey faced the final kicks. Mohan scored and Cumiskey didn’t.
Cue the bedlam.
[ All-Ireland football quarter-finals as it happened: Monaghan and Kerry progressOpens in new window ]
It was easy to understand. Monaghan with its small population of 65,000 has been for the past 10 years the best pound-for-pound county in terms of its resources. Manager Vinny Corey took over a team in decline but led and cajoled them to retain their Division One league status and now into the last four of the championship.
In a week, their minors play Derry in the All-Ireland minor final.
If there is an aspect of the random about winning shoot-outs, Monaghan positioned themselves not to lose a match for which they were underdogs and from the moment the rampant Aidan Forker pointed in less than a minute under pressure from opponents who were creating better chances.
They also had to contend with Rian O’Neill in fine form, converting all his dead-ball kicks apart from a first-half 45. His signature flourish looked as it had won the match in extra time.
With all the fostering and ‘recycling’ that goes on, especially with exhausted players, he boldly took the ball 45 metres out, ignored the assembly line around him, lined it up and put Armagh 0-14 to 0-13 ahead.
Added time in extra time was extended by injuries and after a free that was just too far for Beggan’s range, had been knocked around a bit, McManus took charge and ran at the Armagh defence, drawing a foul by Rory Grugan. He picked himself up and from around 30 metres with the whole season on the line, cleanly kicked the quarter-final into a shoot-out.
The result was yet another intolerable disappointment for Armagh. Three times in a year they have lost on penalties, starting with last year’s quarter-final. What may well haunt them is the opportunities they had. It wasn’t all cautious decision making like fisting points when a goal might have broken the match open.
They had penetration in the first half and chances fell for Stefan Campbell and Rory Grugan, both twisting and jinking through the defence in search of a clean shot.
For all their difficulties, Monaghan weren’t easy to break down. Mohan, whose work rate made Stakhanov look lazy, blocked Campbell and covered enough ground to score three points before his penalty redemption. Kieran Lavelle did the same to Grugan.
All told the defence was industrious and energetic, springing on to breaks around the danger zone. Conor Boyle was always available and Conor McCarthy again exploited his counter-attacking instincts for three points and the turbocharged veteran Karl O’Connell made himself available untiringly for those rapid thrusts into the heart of defences.
Up front Michael Bannigan missed first-half chances but came good with two, later and had the puzzling arbitration of ‘data not available’ when a shot, probably wide, was referred to Hawk-Eye.
Stephen O’Hanlon’s ability to evade tackles and move forward gave Monaghan a go-to player despite his lack of physical heft but above all, McManus’s arrival in the 40th minute brought a genuine star player, in his veteran phase of course, into the fray and his leadership was vital, especially in the last play of extra time.
His penalties were also sublime, hit high to either side of Ethan Rafferty, despite the pressure of having to go again. That of course applied to nearly all those charged with kicks on both teams.
Armagh had the chance when Seán Jones was black-carded for trip just before the end of normal time but they didn’t dial up the attack to exploit the advantage. It recalled the words of former joint-manager Brian Canavan earlier in the summer.
“We have the players – there’s no getting away from it – especially going forward if we let them off the leash a wee bit.”
Monaghan are now the ones unleashed.
ARMAGH: Ethan Rafferty; Paddy Burns, Aaron McKay, Aidan Forker (0-2); Conor O’Neill, Greg McCabe, Jarly Óg Burns; Ciarán Mackin, Ben Crealy; Jason Duffy, Rory Grugan (0-2, 0-1f), Stefan Campbell; Joe McElroy, Rian O’Neill (capt; 0-6, 0-4f, 0-1 45), Andrew Murnin (0-2, 0-1m).
Subs: Conor Turbitt for Crealey (46 mins), Callum Cumiskey for McCabe (51 mins), Jemar Hall for Duffy (54 mins), Ross McQuillan (0-1) for Hall (65 mins), Shane McPartlan (0-1) for McElroy (69 mins), Barry McCambridge for Forker (75 mins), Justin Kieran for J Burns (80 mins), Oisín Conaty for Campbell (90 mins).
MONAGHAN: Rory Beggan; Kieran Duffy (capt.), Killian Lavelle, Ryan Wylie; Karl O’Connell, Conor Boyle, Conor McCarthy (0-3); Gary Mohan (0-3), Darren Hughes; Stephen O’Hanlon, Michael Bannigan (0-2), Dessie Ward; Ryan McAnespie, Karl Gallagher, Jack McCarron (0-2, 0-1f).
Subs: Conor McManus (0-4, 0-3f) for Gallagher (40 mins), Ryan O’Toole for Lavelle (53 mins), Seán Jones for McCarron (56 mins), Shane Carey for McAnespie (61 mins), Kieran Hughes for Ward (68 mins), Lavelle for Carey (extra time), Colm Lennon for Boyle (80 mins), Carey for McCarthy (80 mins), McCarron for O’Hanlon (88 mins),
Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)
