Donegal produce stunning second half display to march past Monaghan

Despite the scheduling controversy and a slow start, Donegal are in a terrific spot now.

Donegal's Patrick McBrearty celebrates after scoring a point. Pic: Tom Maher/Inpho

All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Donegal 1-3-20 (29) Monaghan 1-5-10 (23) 

The big bad world inflicted blow after blow. Donegal responded with a second-half burst that shook the big house to its core.

Their safe passage to the final four was secured with a shock and awe blitz that overturned a 0-11 to 1-15 half-time deficit in stunning fashion. At half-time, Monaghan were dreaming. Rory Beggan had just kicked a beauty of a two-pointer after the hooter to cap a well-deserved advantage. A half hour later, they were shattered.

A crowd of 61,659 poured through the turnstiles of Croke Park on Saturday. A sizeable contingent of them bore green and gold. Much had been made of the county’s frustration over a six-day turnaround. This was their ninth championship game compared to Monaghan’s fifth.

When adversity stared them in the face, Donegal stared right back. Michael Langan was an attacking powerhouse in centrefield, blasting a goal past Rory Beggan during the comeback before rifling another over and applying the final flourish with a late two-pointer.

Shaun Patton managed his way through a serious squeeze. Monaghan’s 4-4-4 zonal press had him in all kinds of trouble. An early clip to the corner went over the sideline and led to Micheál Bannigan’s opening point. The Monaghan captain capitalised on another wayward restart that Stephen O’Hanlon picked off. Bannigan finished the move by rolling the ball under Patton.

Donegal's Michael Langan shoots to score his side's goal. Pic: Tom Maher/Inpho

That frailty, combined with a spurt of two-pointers, left Donegal reeling. Beggan slotted a free, Andrew Woods swung over two. Ciarán Thompson’s trusted left boot proved worth two orange flags but elsewhere, Jim McGuinness had major cause for concern.

The load on Michael Murphy was starting to show. From the throw-in, Langan sent in a probing ball that they failed to claim. He then missed a routine free and was turned over for an O’Hanlon goal opportunity that ultimately ended in a point concession.

Most pleasingly for the Ulster champions, they were able to recover as a unit. Conor O’Donnell thundered into the game with three second half points to go with an earlier one. Their chief creator Shane O’Donnell sliced through an exposed defence repeatedly. Captain Patrick McBrearty burst off the bench to score twice. When the comeback came, it came in waves.

In the history of this format, only two teams had come through the preliminary quarter-final route to make it to the final four. McGuinness’ outfit have now made it three.

As the afternoon turned to evening, it became clear all eight teams across this weekend would have a chance. The strange thing was that few looked capable of taking it. Before a bizarrely inaccurate Dublin and Tyrone clash, Monaghan fell victim to the same unravelling. Two-points were what got them to this stage. An inability to convert them down the straight held them back. Beggan hit the post. Jack McCarron took a wild swing, as did Bannigan. David Garland landed one late but at that stage, it was an exercise in trimming the margin.

McGuinness made it clear afterwards that he did not greenlight the statement slamming the six-day turnaround earlier in the week. It was a curious attempt at distancing the players and management team from that off-field controversy. Maybe he just saw what was in front of him.

Despite all the debate and a slow start, Donegal are in a terrific spot now.

Scorers for Donegal: M. Langan 1-3 (1 tp); C. Thompson (2 tp), C. O’Donnell, M. Murphy (2 frees) 0-4 each; O. Gallen, S. O’Donnell 0-3 each; P. McBrearty, P. Mogan 0-2 each, R. McHugh 0-1.

Scorers for Monaghan: M. Bannigan 1-2 (1 free); R. Beggan 0-5 (1 tpf, 1 tp, 1 45); A. Woods 0-4 (2 tp); S. O’Hanlon 0-3; C. McCarthy, D. Garland (tp) 0-2 each; R. O’Toole, C. McNulty 0-1 each.

DONEGAL: S. Patton; F. Roarty, B. McCole, P. Mogan; R. McHugh, E. Gallagher, C. Moore; H. McFadden, M. Langan; C. McColgan, C. Thompson, S. O’Donnell; C. O’Donnell, M. Murphy, O. Gallen.

Subs: D. Ó Baoill for McColgan (40); J. McGee for McFadden (45); P. McBrearty for Gallen (49); E. McHugh for McHugh (56); N. O’Donnell for Murphy (67) 

MONAGHAN: R. Beggan; R. Wylie, K. Duffy, D. Byrne; R. O’Toole, D. Ward, C. McCarthy; M. McCarville, G. Mohan; A. Carey, M. Bannigan, R. McAnespie; C. McNulty, A. Woods, S. O’Hanlon.

Subs: J. McCarron for McAnespie (39 – Inj); L. Kelly for McCarville (50); D. Garland for McNulty (51); K. O’Connell for McCarthy, K. Hughes for Mohan (both 59); S. Mooney for Garland (60 – 63, Temp).

Referee: P. Neilan (Roscommon).