Gallagher in top form

Fermanagh 4-13 Monaghan 2-11: ULSTER SF/First round: A rampant Rory Gallagher helped Fermanagh through to the semi-final of the Ulster championship with a devastating second half display that saw him finish with a total of three goals and nine points as Monaghan were completely obliterated in the second half.

Two of Gallagher's goals came from second half penalties, but he simply proved too hot to handle for a beleaguered Monaghan defence who were at sixes and sevens for most of the second half.

Earlier it had been quite a different story with Monaghan overcoming a poor start to dominate for long spells in the first half and deservedly going in at the break four points in front.

Fermanagh got off to a flying start when Rory Gallagher placed Tom Brewster perfectly for a shot on the Monaghan goal to give debutant keeper Shane Duffy no chance for the opening score after just five minutes and when Gallagher himself added a point a minute later, it looked as if predictions of an easy Fermanagh victory were going to prove correct.

That, however, was as good as it got for the Fermanagh men then, as Monaghan took control of the game around midfield, where Jason Hughes and Eoin Lennon, in particular, were very impressive and Monaghan responded to that early setback with a period of dominance that saw them hit a goal and five points without reply, Tom Freeman finishing superbly for the goal after excellent work by Raymond Ronaghan.

Fermanagh rallied briefly around the half-hour mark to draw level at 1-5 each with two points from Rory Gallagher and one from Sean McDermott, but Monaghan picked up the pace again in the final minutes of normal time to forge ahead by two points from Damien and Tom Freeman.

Rory Gallagher pulled back an injury time point for Fermanagh but Monaghan struck a morale-boosting blow just before the short whistle when Rory Woods crashed the ball to the Fermanagh net , Raymond Ronaghan again the provider, to send Monaghan in 2-7 to 1-6 in front at half-time.

Within two minutes of the restart, Fermanagh's recovery was underway when they were awarded a penalty after a foul on Rory Gallagher and he despatched the shot to the Monaghan net to reduce the arrears to the minimum.

By the seventh minute, the arrears had been wiped out and Fermanagh had retaken the lead with points by Rory Gallagher and Raymond Johnston and while Monaghan rallied briefly, they were hit with a second penalty goal, Rory Gallagher again converting, and the turnaround was almost complete.

Fermanagh had now regained control out around the middle and they used the long ball in to their forwards to exert increasing pressure on a beleaguered Monaghan defence so that by the 28th minute they had opened a six points lead and Monaghan were visibly struggling.

In the final minute of normal time, Rory Gallagher completed the rout when he got a fist to a centre by Ronan McCabe to register his third goal and Fermanagh's fourth and effectively kill the game off completely.

FERMANAGH: D Feeley; B Owens, P McGuinness, M Lilly; S McDermott 0-1, J Gilheany, N Cox; P Brewster, M Greene; R Johnston 0-1, S Maguire, T Brewster 1-0, Raymond Gallagher 0-1, Rory Gallagher 3-9, C Bradley. Subs: M McGrath 0-1 for S Maguire, L McBarron for M Greene, C Donnelly for C Bradley, R McCabe for N Cox, S McCabe for Raymond Gallagher

MONAGHAN: S Duffy; P McKenna, D McDermott, C Flanagan; G McQuaid, A Rooney, D Clerkin; J Hughes, E Lennon; JP Mone 0-3, R Woods 1-0, J McElroy 0-1, D Freeman 0-4, R Ronaghan, T Freeman 1-3. Subs: H Malone for D Freeman, F Mone for J McElroy, D McArdle for R Woods, N Corrigan for A Rooney, R Treanor for D Clerkin.

Referee: M Monahan (Kildare)