Malachy O’Rourke’s seven-season stint with Monaghan is over after the Farney’s eight-point All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Armagh in Clones on Saturday evening.

Monaghan squeezed through to the second round of the All-Ireland SFC Qualifier series with a nervy four-point win over a dogged Fermanagh side at Clones.

The sight of thousands of Mayo young supporters on the field at MacHale Park after yesterday’s win over Monaghan was a timely reminder of just how popular the county’s footballers have become in recent years.

Mayo 3-15 Monaghan 1-18

Anthony Cunningham hailed his side’s courage and heart as the 2017 Connacht champions surprised Monaghan at Dr Hyde Park.

Dublin hardly expected Monaghan to roll out the red carpet for them on Sunday but when the home side chose not to provide them with a guard of honour the visitors knew for sure they were in for a testing afternoon, writes John Fogarty.

No harm for Monaghan to remind Dublin that they have their number at these early junctures. No harm for the champions either to be told that in this season of all seasons there is going to be gristle. The physical soreness they feel today after this niggly clash will serve them well for what lies ahead.

Mickey Graham’s busy end to 2018 finished with a win in his first day at the office as Cavan manager, Conor Madden’s point deep into injury-time snatching a 0-13 to 1-9 McKenna Cup victory over Down.

On this occasion the picture was worth a thousand words. The Waterford footballers, legs dangling over the quayside in Dungarvan, are chatting away together and the image captures that sense of fulfilment which comes after a championship win.

Manchester City win the league hitting the 100-point mark, 18 points more than Manchester United and 25 more than Liverpool and yet City haven’t been able to beat either in recent games. 

Jack McCarron’s audacity last Sunday has re-opened the debate about the great Croke Park Gaelic football goals. 

MONAGHAN 2-12 DUBLIN 0-17: In the end, we were given a dramatic conclusion rarely in keeping with the general tedium of events as Fintan Kelly fired over a glorious point deep into injury-time to secure a noteworthy success for Monaghan against the All-Ireland champions.

Smiles all round after this encounter even if Kerry’s were more of the wrier variety having been on the wrong end of a harsh penalty call.

Malachy O’Rourke felt Shane Murphy made a clean, legitimate tackle on Niall Kearns despite his team being awarded a penalty, which Conor McManus slotted to the net.

Kerry’s hard edge. What might have been considered an oxymoron in the past has never been anything but fact as long as Darren Hughes has played senior football for Monaghan.

The August Bank Holiday weekend is usually a pretty good starting point for the business end of the football championship, writes Tomás Quinn.

Bad. Bad for Armagh supporters as I know it was bad for the neutrals I spoke to who were in Croke Park on Saturday, writes Oisín McConville.

Jim Gavin has stood over his criticism of the Croke Park pitch and insisted Gaelic games, not concerts, should be the GAA’s priority.

Monaghan brought the Carlow odyssey to an end, but only after a mighty scare at Netwatch Cullen Park, where the Ulster men finished strongly for a flattering five points Qualifier win.

Monaghan and Carlow have booked their places in round three of the All-Ireland Football Qualifiers.

Ulster SFC semi-final        

Down have emerged from the depths of despair to challenge once again for Ulster football glory.

CAVAN 0-15 - MONAGHAN 1-15: Making the Ulster semi-finals for the sixth successive year speaks volumes about Monaghan’s consistency, but Malachy O’Rourke knows a lot more is required if they’re to land a third provincial title on his watch.

He was on his way home from Dublin to training, sitting in traffic with his headphones in, when the call came.

The cruciate was the worst. The cruciate is always the worst.

Monaghan 1-20 Fermanagh 1-11: Monaghan’s support cast showed an eagerness to play a leading role in this year’s Ulster championship, with 13 different scorers in Saturday night’s win over Fermanagh an encouraging sign for the summer ahead.

It was a second-half cruise for Monaghan as they routed Fermanagh in an Ulster SFC preliminary round tie at Clones to set up a derby meeting with Cavan.

Few Allianz Football Leagues have provided more excitement. Fewer still have unearthed so much developing talent. John Fogarty picks the 10 standouts who’ve announced themselves this spring.

Allianz FL Division 1

Injury plagued Monaghan attacker Jack McCarron is keeping his fingers crossed that he’s finally turned his back on a ‘rough’ few years.

Monaghan bagged two precious Allianz League points as they came away from Kerry with a win for the second time in a row this afternoon.

Longford 2-13 Monaghan 1-13: Well, Monaghan can hardly say they weren’t forewarned. Twelve years ago, Denis Connerton brought an unfancied Longford outfit to Clones and plundered Monaghan’s home in the only previous championship meeting between these sides.

Tyrone and Fermanagh both made it three wins from three outings on Wednesday evening.