Ronaghan tilts balance for Monaghan

NFL DIVISION TWO: Monaghan 1-13 Armagh 0-14:MONAGHAN WERE forced to work overtime before they eventually contained the feisty challenge of under-strength Armagh at the Athletic Grounds yesterday to remain firmly on course in the promotion race from Division Two.

Before a crowd of 5,492, Monaghan suffered an early blow when Tommy Freeman was given a yellow card by referee Syl Doyle in the opening minute.

Armagh’s travails came early in the third quarter when captain Ciarán McKeever and Finian Moriarty also received yellow.

“Armagh were missing a lot of players and they really put it up to us in a match that was little short of championship intensity. They came at us hard and we had to lift our game in the second half but we’ll take the win,” said Monaghan manager, Seamus McEnaney.

Armagh led 0-8 to 0-7 at the break, mainly thanks to the accuracy of Steven McDonnell and McKeever, with Rory Woods and Paul Finlay each grabbing a brace of scores for the visitors.

Armagh looked to have taken a firm grip when they were ahead by 0-12 to 0-9 by the 49th minute, but within five minutes the twin dismissals of McKeever and Moriarty coupled with the arrival of impressive Monaghan substitute Raymond Ronaghan changed the scenario. A superb Ronaghan goal in the 52nd minute brought Monaghan back on terms and with Lennon in control at midfield, the visitors tacked on further points from Finlay and Lennon before Barry Shannon and McDonnell responded in kind for Armagh.

Ronaghan and Lennon scored the last two points of the match to keep Monaghan’s unbeaten record intact. “When we get the players who are currently out, including our Crossmaglen contingent, back over the next few weeks, we will be all the stronger because of the experience the current line-up is garnering,” said defiant Armagh manager, Peter McDonnell.

MONAGHAN:P McBennett; D Mone, V Corey, D McArdle; C McManus, G McEnaney, D Hughes (0-1); D Clerkin, E Lennon (0-2); S Gollogly (0-1, free), P Finlay (0-4, three frees), D Freeman; M Downey (0-2), R Woods (0-2), T Freeman. Subs:C Hanratty for T Freeman (1 min yellow). G McQuaid for Clerkin (42 mins), R Ronaghan (1-1)for D Freeman (42), P McGuigan for McEnaney (49), S McAleer for Hanratty (66 mins).

ARMAGH:P Rodgers; A Mallon, V Martin, F Moriarty; C McKeever (0-2), T McClelland, B Shannon (0-1); J Lavery, C Vernon (0-1); M O'Rourke, B Mallon, R Henderson (0-1); K O'Rourke (0-2), R Clarke (0-2), S McDonnell (0-5, three frees). Subs:A O'Rourke for Martin (ht), Micheal O'Rourke for B Mallon (50 mins), P Duffy for McKeever (50 mins, yellow), C Rafferty for Moriarty (54 mins, yellow) J Feeney for Henderson (64 mins), M Mackin for Martin O'Rourke (68 mins).

Referee:Syl Doyle (Wexford).