Donegal denied victory by late Monaghan penalty but still very much in the hunt with draw

AN INJURY TIME penalty from Conor McManus grabbed a draw for Monaghan against Donegal at Ballyshannon this afternoon.

Donegal 1-11 Monaghan 1-11

Donegal seemed to be on their way to their fourth win of the campaign as they led with the time going into the red zone in the first of four minutes injury time.

However, referee David Gough awarded Monaghan a penalty when Martin McElhinney was adjudged to have pulled Darren Hughes by the shirt and McManus, who had been well flanked throughout by Paddy McGrath, sent Mark Anthony McGinley the wrong way to draw the game. McElhinney was black-carded and Donegal finished off with 14, with no substitutes left.

Donegal perhaps should’ve put the game to bed before the late drama. Nine second half wides – added to seven in the first half – meant Monaghan were never out of the game.

But when all is said and done, Donegal and Monaghan remain in decent positions in the Allianz League Division 1 as both are joint second one point behind Dublin. Malachy O’Rourke’s team face the All-Ireland champions next Sunday, while Donegal are in Castlebar to take on Mayo in the final set of fixtures.

There will be a worry or two as Ryan McHugh had to be helped from the field in the second half with an ankle injury, while Paul Brennan left the field with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

In glorious conditions at Fr Tierney Park, a fifth minute goal from Michael Carroll lit up the first half. The Gaoth Dobhair clubman slammed past Rory Beggan following a trademarked Donegal move that saw McHugh and Eoghan Ban Gallagher make their way up the field at lightening pace to set up the chance.

That made the 1-1 to 0-2 for the side managed by Rory Gallagher. However, Monaghan were well set up and weren’t in the mood for letting Donegal run through them. Eoin McHugh did get in to pop over a nice score late in the half but Monaghan’s Kieran Hughes and Owen Duffy both posted points with fine efforts.

Playing against a deceptive first half win, Donegal went in a point down at the break, 0-9 to 1-5. Jack McCarron, with six points – two from play – was Monaghan’s main threat and on three occasions in that first 35 minutes referee David Gough penalised Neil McGee for off-the-ball fouls on the Monaghan full-forward. On the third of those occasions, McGee went into the notebook for a yellow card. McCarron, though, would not add to his total after the break.

Monaghan lost Ryan McAnespie to concession early on and then saw Dessie Ward black-carded late in the half for hauling down McHugh, who was visibly frustrated with the foul. Michael Murphy intercepted a Beggan kick-out in first half injury time and set McHugh away down the left. His centre to cousin Eoin, whose slap was stopped by the Monaghan goalkeeper.

Two points in the first 37 seconds of the second half, through Murphy and Ciaran Thompson, meant Donegal forced their way in front at 1-7 to 0-9 and with the wind at their backs, looked the most likely. Kieran Gillespie had come on for McGee and full-back.

But there was no further score until the 50th minute as Donegal fired a succession of wides and Monaghan kept McGinley busy with a succession of balls dropping short into the Donegal goalkeeper’s hands.

Patrick McBrearty came off the bench for Donegal and joined his captain Murphy on the scoresheet, with Murphy using the elements to hammer over from 50 metres.

Donegal were 1-9 to 0-9 in front then. Shane Carey eventually opened Monaghan’s second half accept on 56 minutes and then when McManus managed his opening score of the day from a free on 59 minutes, Monaghan were just one down, 1-9 to 0-11.

McBrearty and another monstrous Murphy free with time wearing thin moved Donegal’s margin to three points. And it looked as though that would be enough, only for McManus to grab a draw for Monaghan.

Donegal: Donegal: Mark Anthony McGinley; Paddy McGrath, Neil McGee, Eamon Doherty; Ryan McHugh, Paul Brennan, Eoghan ‘Ban’ Gallagher; Michael Carroll (1-0), Michael Murphy (0-7, 4fs); Cian Mulligan, Martin O’Reilly, Ciaran Thompson(0-1); Jamie Brennan, Hugh McFadden, Eoin McHugh (0-1). Subs: Mark McHugh for P.Brennan (33), Kieran Gillespie for McGee (half-time), Patrick McBrearty (0-2) for J Brennan (43), Karl Lacey for Mulligan (50), Martin McElhinney for R McHugh (60 mins), Michael Langan for Thompson (63), Martin McElhinney (70, black card).

Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Fintan Kelly, Drew Wylie, Ryan Wylie; Ryan McAnespie, Neil McAdam, Karl O’Connell; Darren Hughes, Kieran Hughes (0-1); Dessie Ward, Owen Duffy (0-1), Gavin Doogan; Michael Bannigan (0-1), Jack McCarron (0-6,4f), Conor McManus (1-1, 1-0 pen, 1f).  Subs: Shane Carey (0-1) for R McAnespie (7), Conor McCarthy for D Ward (35 black card), Dermot Malone for Dermot Bannigan (42), Vincent Corey for N McAdam (46), James Mealiff for Owen Duffy (53, black card), Thomas Kerr for G Doogan (68)

Referee: David Gough (Meath).