Damien Freeman scored 1-4 to give Monaghan a comfortable win at Clones yesterday. His goal 16 minutes into the second half was a tremendous strike from the 21-metre line after he pounced on a pass by Darren Farmer .

Monaghan scored nine first half points, seven from play, and never looked under any pressure, with Carlow having only a point each from Willie Quinlan and Joe Byrne to show for their efforts.

It was an impressive display by Monaghan and with a 1-13 to 0-3 lead after the goal, they could afford to give newcomers Andrew Callan and Stephen McGeough a runout. However, their promising young player, John Paul Mone, had to be stretchered off and taken to hospital with a neck injury seven minutes from time.

Monaghan: S Duffy; M McBride, D McDermott, N Marron; P McKenna, JP Mone, D McArdle (0-1); J Hughes, J McElroy, D Farmer (0-2); D Smith (0-1), D Clerkin (0-2); D Freeman (1-4), G Meehan (0-3), D Swift (0-2). Subs: E Lennon for J Hughes, injured (26 min); T Freeman (0-1) for D Clerkin (63); S McGeough for JP Mone, injured (63); A Callan for D Smith (76).

Carlow: P McGrath; J Hickey, B Farrell, V Fleming; S O'Brien, J Byrne (0-1), C Kelly; J McGrath, S Kavanagh; P Nolan (0-1), W Quinlan (0-2), J Kavanagh; J Nevin (0-2), D Donoghue, E McGarry. Subs: C McDonald for E McGarry (44); P O'Dwyer for V Fleming (45); B Kavanagh for P Nolan (71).

Referee: G Kinneavey (Roscommon).