McManus stars as Monaghan swagger
Having laboured in Clones eight days earlier, Monaghan were back in the groove, the swagger and confidence which saw them stun Donegal in last year’s Ulster final safely returned.
Monaghan came bristling with intensity, and won the fight in the first half. They led 1-8 to 1-4 at the interval and played with a purpose and with a work-rate absent from their game the previous week.
Conor McManus was inspirational, kicking 1-7, with three points from play and a superb sideline conversion in the second half to add to a fine goal after 32 minutes.
He made the kind of impact Armagh would have been hoping for from their own number 15, Jamie Clarke, who looked disinterested until the last quarter, by which stage the contest was over.
That Aaron Kernan could be left on the bench until the 46th minute, with four other substitutes brought on before him, beggars belief.
There was some poor game management by Armagh too to have used all six substitutes long before the end meaning they finished the game with 14 men following Stefan Campbell’s black card in the 63rd minute.
Armagh’s goal after 12 minutes came completely against the run of play and while there was a suspicion that McManus may have nudged James Morgan in the back in the build-up to his own goal 20 minutes later, there was no doubting who was bossing this replay.
Malachy O’Rourke could easily have pressed the panic button after being out-thought for possibly the first time as Monaghan manager a week ago.
Instead, he gave a resounding vote of confidence to players like Vinny Corey, who had struggled on Armagh playmaker Kevin Dyas last week, to go out and shut his man down.
Nullifying Dyas and Ciaran McKeever were the big success stories of Monaghan’s strategy.
Paul Finlay was drafted in to push up on McKeever, who spent most of the game chasing the Ballybay man around rather than being the link man from defence to attack.
It was obvious from the opening exchanges that Monaghan were a different beast this time round.
Darren Hughes scored two points in the opening nine minutes though the defending champions were rocked back on their heels, albeit temporarily, by Aaron Findon’s goal.
Aidan Forker’s curling a left-footed shot crashed off the crossbar but the unmarked Findon was there to palm the rebound into the net.
It put Armagh 1-1 to 0-2 ahead but Monaghan were not long in wiping out the deficit.
Conor McManus’ point and free, followed by subsequent frees from Paul Finlay and Rory Beggan, had Monaghan ahead within six minutes of Armagh’s goal.
Finnian Moriarty was black-carded for tripping McManus after 22 minutes and was replaced by Andy Mallon.
Monaghan had all the momentum. McManus converted a superb free from the sideline with his right foot to stretch his team’s lead.
At the other end, the key men who had excelled for Armagh in the drawn game were having no impact.
Kevin Dyas, Stefan Campbell and Jamie Clarke led the fight a week earlier but Clarke was off-colour and missed a simple 25m free.
Tony Kernan stepped up to take the frees from the right and wrong side of the field for a right-footed kicker and did very well, top-scoring for Armagh with 0-7.
Armagh thought they should have had a penalty when Kieran Toner was felled in the square.
Within half a minute, Conor McManus had the ball in the net for Monaghan.
Beggan’s long kickout bounced over several players’ heads before being caught by Kieran Hughes, who delivered a superb long pass into McManus.
McManus’ turn and finish was superb, drilling the ball beyond Philip McEvoy.
Monaghan led 1-8 to 1-4 at half-time and stretched out to 1-13 to 1-6 after 47 minutes.
Armagh’s best spell of the match came in the middle of the second half when they scored three points in-a-row to reduce the deficit to four points.
A monster point from Paul Finlay from out on the far sideline ended a ten minute scoring drought for Monaghan and averted a mini crisis.
McManus scored four points in a seven minute spell late on, as Monaghan set up an Ulster final rematch with Donegal.
Conor McManus’ goal after 32 minutes. Armagh had a penalty appeal turned down and from the next play, McManus. swivelled and buried the ball in the net.
Armagh continued with their media ban, even after defeat. Normally a team carrying a sense of grievance will call a halt to hostilities after a big game, but Armagh are sticking with the siege mentality.
Conor McManus. Sent off on a black card in last week’s drawn game, which was rescinded during the week, and then he shoots the lights out at Clones yesterday.
The man in black
It looked like Marty Duffy would have his hands full early on but he kept a lid on things and the players responded by toeing the line.
Finian Moriarty was black carded for tripping Conor McManus after 22 minutes, but there was no hint of intent in the challenge and it looked harsh. Stefan Campbell went late on for a more blatant trip of McManus but Armagh were unable to replace him having already used their six substitutions. They had to play the last seven minutes with 14 men.
Malachy O’Rourke could easily have pressed the panic button after last week’s drawn match but he didn’t panic and sent his defensive unit in to battle against the same forwards. Armagh showed poor game management to end the game with 14 men, having used all six substitutes before Stefan Campbell’s 63rd minute black card.
Monaghan set up an Ulster final rematch with Donegal on July 20, having beaten them in last year’s provincial decider and this year’s division two league final. Armagh must pick themselves up quickly for an All-Ireland second round qualifier against Tyrone in Omagh this weekend.
Scorers for Monaghan: C McManus (1-7, 3fs), P Finlay (0-3, 1f), D Hughes, R Beggan (2fs) (0-2 each), D Clerkin, S Gallogly, D Malone, C McGuinness (0-1 each).
Scorers for Armagh: T Kernan (0-7, 6fs), J Clarke (0-5, 1f), A Findon (1-0), E McVerry (0-1).
MONAGHAN: R Beggan; R Wylie, D Wylie, C Walshe; D Mone, V Corey, F Kelly; D Clerkin, D Hughes; P Finlay, S Gallogly, P McKenna; D Malone , K Hughes, C McManus.
Subs for Monaghan: C McGuinness for K Hughes (ht), G Doogan for Clerkin (67).
ARMAGH: P McEvoy; J Morgan, C Vernon, F Moriarty; M Shields, B Donaghy, C McKeever; K Toner, A Findon; E McVerry, K Dyas, A Forker; T Kernan, S Campbell, J Clarke.
Subs for Armagh: A Mallon for Moriarty (bc, 23), K Carragher for McVerry (ht), S Harold for Toner (ht), M Murray for Morgan (40), A Kernan for Donaghy (46), R Grugan for Forker (59).
Referee: Marty Duffy (Sligo).
