Too little, too late as Farney go down

ULTIMATELY they went down anyway — but not without a fight.

Unfortunately for Monaghan, soon after the final whistle sounded on their first win for nine weeks, they learnt their fate had been decided far from Inniskeen.

Results elsewhere had condemned Eamonn McEneaney’s squad to relegation to Division 2 and a string of narrow defeats against Armagh, Dublin and Cork took their toll.

“It’s disappointing that we won the game but still ended up being relegated,” sighed Dessie Mone afterwards as he mingled with Monaghan supporters in the glorious sunshine.

“But going back down to Division 2 is not a big blow to Monaghan football. We wanted to win this game (today). We needed a win and we went out and got it.

“We’re building for the championship, this is Eamonn McEneaney’s first season with this group, and we’ve learnt a lot in the last few months.”

So too has new Mayo manager James Horan. While Monaghan needed to win this game to have any chance of avoiding relegation, their guests were safe in the top-flight after last week’s surprise victory over Cork.

Nonetheless, Horan was disappointed with his team’s performance, especially as a number of players were expected to make the most of their auditions for a place in his championship panel.

“I won’t take much out of (today) to be honest,” he admitted afterwards.

“I was very disappointed with the result but, mainly, with our performance. We just didn’t tackle. We had guys running through all day and we stood and watched them a little bit.”

It was obvious from the early stages that Monaghan were primed for battle. Mark McNally, Paul Finlay and Tommy Freeman were surprise inclusions in the starting team and a large home crowd turned out at the picturesque rural venue.

Mayo made the most of the relaxed atmosphere early on and points from Jason Doherty, Kevin McLoughlin and James Burke eased them into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after five minutes.

Monaghan came roaring back into contention though with a fine goal from Tomás Freeman on six minutes, after he made the most of some slack marking.

It was no surprise then that they led by 1-7 to 0-7 after 26 minutes as Paul Finlay punished Mayo’s over-worked defence with four points (three from frees) and Tomás Freeman nailed another score before Keith Higgins arrived to try and pin him down.

The tide turned, however, in the last 10 minutes of the half as the visitors got their second wind and struck 1-2 without reply.

The goal came from Mayo captain Andy Moran on 35 minutes, after a clever interception from Jason Doherty, and meant Monaghan trailed by 1-7 to 1-9 at half-time.

The pressure was building.

A frantic second-half followed; the sides were level in three occasions during the third quarter before Mayo’s goalscoring sensation Jason Doherty pounced on 51 minutes to beat Mark Keogh. The score came against the run of play but, with all five substitutes on the field, Mayo seemed poised to close the game out.

Instead, Monaghan manufactured an impressive last quarter and, inspired by Dessie Mone, Darren Hughes and Dick Clerkin, they dug out the match-winning scores.

The unerring Paul Finlay landed five points (four from frees) in the closing stages and Darren Hughes galloped through to fire over an inspirational score as the home side turned the screw.

“We didn’t want a moral victory (today),” said Dessie Mone.

Scorers for Monaghan: P Finlay 0-11 (8fs), T Freeman 1-3, C McManus 0-3 (2fs), D Hughes (0-1).

Scorers for Mayo: J Doherty 1-3 (2fs), A Moran 1-1, A Campbell 0-4 (2fs), J Burke 0-3, K McLoughlin, A Freeman 0-1 each.

Subs for Monaghan: J Turley for Downey, S Gollogly for McGuinness, D McArdle for McNally, D Morgan for Galligan, O Duffy for Clerkin.

Subs for Mayo: R O’Connor for Gardiner (inj), R Rochford for Hallinan, B Moran for O’Shea, A Kilcoyne for Campbell, C O’Connor for Varley (inj).

Referee: E Kinsella (Laois).