Holders Donegal survived a stirring Monaghan fightback to advance to the Ulster Football semi-finals with a 0-23 to 0-21 win in Clones.
Having beaten Derry in the preliminary round, Donegal looked on course for another convincing win as they built a six-point lead at half-time.
But Monaghan roared back in the second half with three two-pointers in the space of six third-quarter minutes from Conor McCarthy, Jack McCarron and Micheal Bannigan.
Donegal managed to push themselves back into a four-point cushion in the closing stages, but a Ryan McAnespie score and Dessie Ward’s two-pointer left the game in the balance.
Monaghan’s chance to force extra-time fell to Ward, but when his two-pointer curled wide, Donegal breathed a huge sigh of relief as they set up a semi-final with Down on 27 April.
More to follow.
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22 minutes ago
Holders Donegal survived a stirring Monaghan fightback to advance to the Ulster Football semi-finals with a 0-23 to 0-21 win in Clones.
Having beaten Derry in the preliminary round, Donegal looked on course for another convincing win as they built a six-point lead at half-time.
But Monaghan roared back in the second half with three two-pointers in the space of six third-quarter minutes from Conor McCarthy, Jack McCarron and Micheal Bannigan.
Donegal managed to push themselves back into a four-point cushion in the closing stages, but a Ryan McAnespie score and Dessie Ward’s two-pointer left the game in the balance.
Monaghan’s chance to force extra-time fell to Ward, but when his two-pointer curled wide, Donegal breathed a huge sigh of relief as they set up a semi-final with Down on 27 April.
On the back of their 10-point success over Derry a fortnight ago, Donegal were firm pre-match favourites and lived up to that billing during a dominant first-half display.
With Monaghan firing wides and struggling to claim their own kick-outs, Donegal duly capitalised and soared into a 0-9 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes.
Ciaran Thompson was excellent in the first half, scoring five points, while Peadar Mogan chipped in with three scores from play from corner-back.
Daire O Baoill continued his fine form after hitting 1-4 against Derry with two first-half points while Michael Murphy hit 0-3, which included a two-pointed free.
Sensing the uphill task facing his side, Monaghan boss Gabriel Bannigan sent on Jack McCarron and Micheal McCarville to breathe new life into the Monaghan challenge, but it was a Ward two-pointer and a Micheal Bannigan free that kept the home side alive at the break.
More to follow.
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