Monaghan’s late run breaks Down

Monaghan finished with a flourish to book their place in the Ulster MFC final at the Athletic Grounds.

They trailed for most of the game, stunned Down with a fabulous final quarter, hitting four unanswered points to set up a showpiece meeting with either Tyrone or Derry.

There were many heroes in manager Colin McAree’s team, none more so than midfielder David McAllister, who put in a huge afternoon’s work and capped a wonderful display with three top-quality points from play.

Scorers for Monaghan: D McAllister 0-3, C McCarthy 0-2 (2f), P Keenan (1f), R Wylie, J McElroy, F McGeough, R McAnespie, D Ward 0-1 each.

Scorers for Down: D McCarthy 0-3, C McGrady 0-2, D McKeever, J McDermott, R McAlinden (1f) 0-1 each.

MONAGHAN: C Forde; M Magee, B Greenan, B Hanratty; R Wylie, S Conlon, F Malone; D McAllister, S Buckley; A Treanor, J McElroy, P Keenan; F McGeough, R McAnespie, C McCarthy.

Subs: C Hughes for Hanratty, C Lavelle for McGeough, D McElroy for Conlon, D Ward for McAllister.

DOWN: R Burns; A McDonald, A Doherty, M O’Hare; D McKeever, R Wells, J McDermott; D Doyle, D McCarthy; C Gallagher, S McGonigle, R McAlinden; C McGrady, T Grimley, J Haughey.

Subs: D McAleenan for Haughey, D McKeown for McAlinden, C Foy for McGrady.

Referee: S McLaughlin (Donegal).