Goals win it for Monaghan after madcap second half against Dublin in Croke Park

National Football League Division One: Monaghan 3-9 Dublin 1-14

When the question bubbles up every year as to how Monaghan are able to keep surviving in Division One, nobody ever thinks to look in Dublin’s direction for the answer. And yet this victory for Vinny Corey’s men, secured through an injury-time point from debutant substitute Ciarán McNulty, means that yet another league campaign will pass without Dublin beating them. It hasn’t happened since 2017. Unless they meet in this year’s final, it won’t happen until 2025 at the earliest. Wild.

They came out on top here in the sort of entertainingly open game that sends managers home grumbling about how entertaining and open it was. Monaghan ran in three goals – and they really did run them in. A first half penalty by Jack McCarron came when another debutant Micheál Hamill ran straight at the heart of the Dublin defence. Stephen O’Hanlon caused Dublin a world of trouble by sprinting down the middle again and again, mining 1-1 from his efforts.

“A lot of their scores resulted from our sloppiness,” said Dessie Farrell afterwards. “Turnovers, poor execution on our behalf that you just won’t get away with at this level. I think when we do pore over the video we will see that a lot of their scores came from our mistakes.”

The final one certainly did. And of all people to make it, Brian Fenton was the one who was guilty of giving away possession as Dublin tried to run down the clock and make sure the last kick at goal belonged to them. Instead, Monaghan pounced on a loose pass from the 29-year-old prince of midfielders and broke at pace, ending with Stephen Mooney – another debutant sub – putting McNulty away to calmly slot the winner.

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Corey said afterwards that he is using the league to blood as many players as he can, through necessity as much as anything else. Of the 26-man squad he brought to the All-Ireland semi-final last July, four are no longer available to him and a fifth is, to say the least, uncertain. Fintan Kelly, Kieran Hughes and Shane Carey have all retired, Conor Boyle has stepped away from the panel and, most notably of all, Rory Beggan has his eyes on a career in American football.

On top of which, Conor McManus and Darren Hughes have 35 seasons of inter-county football between them in the rearview and won’t be rushed back. Conor McCarthy, their sole All Star from 2023, was injured in the McKenna Cup and Ryan McAnespie went off hurt in the first half here. For Corey’s side to chisel a win out of those circumstances is testament to the standards gleaned from such a long stretch in the top flight.

They wobbled here at times, understandably enough. Dublin ran in a goal inside the opening four minutes – Lorcan O’Dell turned down a mark to send Cormac Costello clear as Monaghan were caught napping after a turnover and Costello slammed it home. Farrell’s side were well in control for most of the opening 25 minutes, with Ciarán Kilkenny enjoying himself in midfield. They led 1-4 to 0-2 at that stage, 1-3 of which had been sourced from quick, early ball into the full-forward line.

But then, out of nothing, Monaghan scored two goals in four minutes. The first was a Jack McCarron penalty after Hamill was pulled down by Cian Murphy. The second was a stunner from O’Hanlon, pinged left-footed into the top corner from 20 metres out. It meant the sides somehow went in at the break all square, 1-5 to 2-2.

The second half was helter-skelter all the way home. Both goalkeepers landed frees from 48 metres. Costello and Micheál Bannigan were faultless from placed balls. McCarron mixed some cool finishing with some truly improbable wides. It felt for most of the way that Dublin were creating their scores with that bit more ease and yet when Monaghan walked in their third goal as Mooney and McNulty combined on 58 minutes, they were suddenly two clear, 3-6 to 1-10.

Points from Killian O’Gara and McGarry levelled it again but O’Hanlon wouldn’t be denied. Colm Basquel came off the bench to flick an assured score but missed a gaping goal late on. It left time and space for Mooney and McNulty to mark their first game in Croke Park by taking the points. Most league previews had Monaghan down as favourites for relegation, not that Corey takes much notice any more.

“We don’t pass any remarks on it to be honest,” he said. “We’re probably just used to that. The boys aren’t afraid of Division One. There’s a lot of boys there with a lot of experience and there’s new players who aren’t afraid of the big teams. You saw that out there. They didn’t crumble coming up against the All-Ireland champions.

“But Division One is a tight, tight division. We don’t know what the rest of it will bring. But we’re very clear on what we want out of the league, we’re very focused on what we want to do. Results? Whatever happens, happens in that regard. We’re very focused on what we want to do for later on in the year.”

Dublin: David O’Hanlon (0-1, free); Eoin Murchan (0-1), Seán McMahon, Lee Gannon; Greg McEneaney, Cian Murphy (0-1), Jack McCaffrey; Brian Fenton, Luke Breathnach (0-1); Ross McGarry (0-2, one mark), Lorcan O’Dell, Ciarán Kilkenny (0-1); Paddy Small (0-1), Con O’Callaghan, Cormac Costello (1-4, four frees). Subs: James McCarthy for McCaffrey (46 mins), Colm Basquel (0-1) for Breathnach (46), Killian O’Gara (0-1) for O’Dell (55), Niall Scully for McGarry, (62), Theo Clancy for Murchan (67).

Monaghan: Darren McDonnell (0-1, free); Ryan Wylie, Killian Lavelle, Ryan O’Toole; Ryan McAnespie, Kieran Duffy, Kevin Loughran; Joel Wilson, Gary Mohan; Stephen O’Hanlon (1-1), Micheál Bannigan (0-3, two frees), Micheál Hamill; David Garland, Jack McCarron (1-2, one penalty), Jason Irwin. Subs: Ciaran McNulty (1-1) for McAnespie (33 mins), Stephen Mooney for Garland (46 mins), Andrew Woods (0-1) for McCarron (55), Karl O’Connell for Wylie (55), Colm Lennon for Irwin (68).

Referee: Paul Faloon (Down)

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