Murphy may miss rest of League after injury
McCarthy bags hat-trick but Monaghan give up advantage at Ballybofey
DONEGAL captain Michael Murphy is set to miss the remainder of the Allianz League campaign after suffering a suspected hamstring injury in last night’s thrilling encounter with Monaghan.
Murphy lasted only five minutes before he limped off the field, although Donegal boss Declan
Bonner labelled it a ‘niggle’ in the aftermath of his team’s 1-20 to 4-11 draw with the Farney men.
‘He had a niggle in the first five minutes. I only spoke to him briefly. He is just being assessed now at the minute,’ said Bonner.
However, it is certain that Murphy will not feature in next weekend’s final round clash with Armagh, while it is unlikely he will be risked in the play-offs, given that Donegal will play Down on the championship’s opening weekend at the end of June.
Bonner could also set to be without Eoghan Ban Gallagher, Brendan McCole and Eoin McHugh, who all limped out of last night’s game.
THE league points may have been split, but Donegal went off into the chilled evening much the happier for all kinds of reasons.
The most obvious was the fact Monaghan botched two chances to win in injury time but Aaron Mulligan inexplicably punched his effort wide, while Conor McCarthy, seconds after being announced as man-of-thematch, saw his more challenging kick drift away from the target.
In a contest that posted manic numbers and looked as if it had been scripted on a rollercoaster ride, how Donegal plundered a point defied reason. At one stage, they trailed by nine points in the first-half, and when Mulligan converted a free with six minutes of regular time left they were still four points down, but somehow they eked a way back.
For that they can be thankful to Patrick McBrearty, who on an evening when his team lost its talisman Michael Murphy to what looked like a hamstring, stood tallest to ensure that Donegal’s willing spirit was converted into hard scores.
In the final five minutes, Niall O’Donnell, Ciaran Thompson, with a booming effort, and McBrearty, first from open play and then from a mark, ensured parity.
That parity extended to numbers on the pitch where Daire O’Baoill’s second yellow card in the 52nd minute nullified the loss to Monaghan of Colm Boyle to two black cards inside the first 30 minutes.
But the visitors will take some convincing that this was a game that no one deserved to lose, on the grounds that they had won it more than once. He might not have the same lofty star billing, but Conor McCarthy showed last night that anything that David Clifford can do he can do in half the time.
With most of the chatter in the aftermath of Monaghan’s opening round defeat to Armagh the previous weekend focused on the decision to dilute Conor McManus’ role to an impact sub, McCarthy produced a performance that delivered a firsthalf hat-trick inside 22 minutes.
As it turned out, McManus would have an impact here, tapping the ball into an empty net seven minutes into the second-half in what seemed a final nail in Donegal’s coffin as Monaghan pushed out their lead to seven (4-9 to 1-11) when he followed up with a free.
But, even so, McManus’ thunder had already been stolen by McCarthy. It was not just that the Scotstown man chalked up those three goals inside 20 minutes but it was the sense of utter chaos he visited upon the Donegal defence that was something to marvel at, with three different markers, Eoghan Ban
Gallagher, Ryan McHugh and Daire O Baoill, all bearing scorch-marks from being in his company.
His three goals had a consistent theme running through them, with negligent Donegal defending, exposed for a lack of pace, presence and structure, at their core.
His first in the 11th came when he ran onto Stephen O’Hanlon’s perfectly-weighted pass, which looped over the head of Donegal full-back Neil McGee, but there was much to admire about his composure in not only rounding Shaun Patton, but in keeping his nerve to steer the ball past two covering defenders.
The second arrived seven minutes later via Karl O’Connell’s incursion through the Donegal defence, with McCarthy firing home. But the pick of them was his third. In the opening play after the water-break, he beat McHugh to a driven low centre, turned and left Brendan McCole and O’Baoill choking in his wake before beating Patton.
In the 29th minute he stormed through with intent in his heart only to be tripped up by O’Baoill, in what looked an incident fit for prosecution under the new sin-bin/penalty rule, but referee Barry Cassidy thought differently.
At the time, it hardly seemed to matter, even if Michael Langan’s driven goal-finish in the 29th minute ensured the home team finally got their teeth into this as they trailed by 3-7 to 1-8 at the break.
It is likely that it was not so much the score-line that bothered Declan Bonner at half-time, but the fact it should have been so much worse.
They coughed up four other goal chances in that opening half as Donegal could not cope with Monaghan’s aggressive direct running, with the outstanding O’Connell setting the tone. ‘It was just very difficult. We were just not good enough. We have a lot of work to get done defensively,’ said Bonner afterwards.
It was hard to gauge how much they improved at the back in the second period, given that Boyle’s red card meant that Monaghan were less inclined to go as aggressively on the front foot.
If Donegal’s comfort is that they
have a deep reservoir of defensive talent, their discomfort after this is that it will be badly needed in the months ahead.
Bonner did introduce Stephen McMenamin and Paddy McGrath in the second half, while further down the road there is the possibility that Odhran McFadden Ferry and Ciaran Gillespie will feature.
That will help plug some of those hole, but, perhaps, that is not giving Monaghan the credit they deserve.
Dismissed as relegation fodder after last weekend’s loss to Armagh, they showed they have the pace to unnerve high-end opposition, while in the likes of McManus, O’Connell and Darren Hughes – who was denied the first half goal he deserved by a smart save from Patton – they still have leaders to show them the way.
This point gives them a shot against Tyrone next weekend of avoiding a relegation play-off but, even if they fail to avoid that fate, they do not look in the mood to give up on their seven-year stay in the top division.
DonegAL: S Patton; E Bán Gallagher (P McGrath, 64), N McGee (S McMenamin, 54) , B McCole (J McGee, 64); R McHugh, P Brennan (E McHugh, ht), P Mogan; H McFadden (O MacNiallais, 44), C McGonagle; N O’Donnell, C Thompson, M Langan; P McBrearty, M Murphy (D O’Baoill, 6), O Gallen. Scorers: P McBrearty 0-8 (0-3 frees, 0-1M), M Langan 1-1, O Gallen 0-3, N O’Donnell and C Thompson 0-2 each, E Ban Gallagher, P Mogan, C McGonagle and E McHugh 0-1 each
WiDeS: (7) 9; Frees: (6) 11; Yellow cards: D O’Baoill (40 & 52); Red card: D O’Baoill (52).
monAghAn: R Beggan; K Duffy, C Boyle, R Wylie; K O’Connell (C Lennon, 59), K McMenamin, R McAnespie; D Hughes, K Lavelle; S O’Hanlon (J McCarron, 59), A Mulligan (G Mohan, 70&3), M Bannigan (S Hanratty, 41); C McCarthy, A Woods (N Kearns, 52), S Jones (C McManus, ht). Scorers: C McCarthy 3-1, C McManus 1-2 (0-2 frees), A Mulligan 0-3 (0-2 frees), M Bannigan 0-2 (0-1 free), K O’Connell, R McEnapsie and A Woods 0-1 each.
WiDeS: (3) 9; Frees: (6) 15; Sin-bin: C Boyle (13 & 30), K Lavelle (70&1); Red Card: C Boyle (30)
referee: B Cassidy (Derry)