Monaghan give Mournemen a reality check
IT IS a measure of Down’s decline that their presence in the Tailteann Cup, which was confirmed here, will be as much a source of relief as regret. Tradition is all fine and dandy, but it offers no insulation from the kind of reality that Monaghan visited on the four-time Sam Maguire winners.
And it was hardly as if anyone could feign surprise given that, shortly after Monaghan put Dublin to the Division Two sword, Down chose to go to the capital for a training weekend that ended in such chaos that their manager James McCartan threatened to fall on his own.
This was about as much as they could hope for, mustering up enough resolve to avoid humiliation, but unable to match it with the quality to make this a contest.
In that sense, Down’s long road to rehabilitation will be best travelled in the company of their tier-two peers, while Monaghan steel themselves once more for the business end in a fortnight’s time when they meet the winners of today’s Tyrone/Derry clash.
The sense is that in football’s slow but steady return to orthodoxy, they are travelling at a faster rate than their main Ulster rivals Tyrone and Donegal.
But then it helps when you have an inside trio of Conor McManus, Jack McCarron and Gary Mohan, who between them feasted on 14 points, which fittingly was enough to win this game on their own.
McCarron, in particular, was dripping of class with the ball but full of intent without it, never summed up better than in the last of his seven points as he clawed a mark out of nothing.
It signalled just how comfortable Monaghan are in transitioning quickly – Mohan also kicked two marks – in the belief that they have the quality to hurt teams in a way that few others can. Of course, the impoverished nature of the opposition has to be factored in.
That this was not a repeat of the 19-point mauling – Down’s all-time record defeat – that Monaghan inflicted on the Mourne men in 2016 was down to two bolts from the deepest blue either side of half-time. Monaghan led by 0-12 to 0-4 as the short-whistle approached when Down made the most of Mohan’s mishandling of Rory Beggan’s restart and Ryan McGill’s delayed pass allowed Caolan Mooney to slip inside the Monaghan rearguard and fire low to the net.
It raised a rare cheer from the tiny Down support, but it was sourced more in taking the bare look off the scoreboard than fanciful notions of a comeback.
However, within 14 seconds of the restart, Pat Havern had the ball in the net and the deficit was down to two points (0-12 to 2-4), but Monaghan’s response was a run of points from McManus (two), Conor McCarthy and McCarron, in a purple patch that would extend to outscoring the losers by 0-9 to 0-1 in a 20-minute period.
McCartan, who saw his team reduced to 14 at the death when sub Tiernan Rushe was booked for a second time, summed it up neatly.
‘A division one team beat a division three team. They got a good start, we didn’t. The wide count was ten to two, they were very economical in front of goals. We needed to be like that, we weren’t. We gave ourselves hope before and after half-time but they quickly scored points after that.
‘You can’t be conceding 23 points and expect to win,’ he surmised.
No arguing with that. monaghan: R Beggan; K Duffy (D Wylie, 53), C Boyle, R Wylie; R McAnespie, D Ward, C McCarthy D Hughes (K O’Connell, 56), N Kearns (C Leonard, 61); A Woods (S Jones, 68), K Hughes, M Bannigan (S Carey, 40); J McCarron, G Mohan, C McManus. ScorerS: J McCarron 0-7 (0-2 frees, 0-1m), C McManus 0-4 (0-3 frees), G Mohan 0-3 (0-2m), R Beggan 0-2 (0-1 free, 0-1 45) K Duffy, R Wylie, C Boyle, C McCarthy, A Woods, K Hughes and S Carey 0-1 each. Wides: (1) 2. frees: (9) 17. Yellow cards: D Ward (40).
DoWn: N Kane; B McArdle (G Collins, 60), R McEvoy, P Fegan; D O’Hagan, C Poland, R McGill; N McParland, O Murdock; R McEvoy (A Doherty, 49), C Mooney, B O’Hagan; C Francis, A Gilmore (R O’Hare, 30), P Havern (T Rushe, 52), C Francis (D Guinness, 39)
ScorerS: P Havern 1-1, C Mooney 1-0, C Poland, C Francis and D Guinness 0-1 each; A Gilmore and T Rushe 0-1 (frees), B O’Hagan 0-1 (45). Wides: (6) 10. frees: (9) 19. Yellow cards: C Mooney (40), R McEvoy (42), T Rushe (66 & 70&5). cards: T Rushe (70&5). referee: