Monaghan 2-17
Tyrone 1-18
IN NO TIME at all, the Tyrone team will move on from this gut-punch and re-assess their options with some fairly salty meetings in Garvaghey and perhaps a home truth or two laid out to each other.
And they will say that none of it matters anyway, the whole Ulster championship thing. It’s the All-Ireland that matters, and sure every time they face Monaghan in Croke Park, well, we know what happens then.
There’s a truth in that. But how big or how small you believe it to be is a matter of personal taste. The fans in blue and white that lingered in the Omagh sunshine, on what felt by the end to be the first real day of summer, would disagree.
They couldn’t be happier. They went to Tyrone and bate them in their own backyard again.
Vinny Corey sent out their beloved warhorses to battle and in the first half it looked like they had all grown old together. And then they had the wind and the entire complexion of the game changed.
Rory Beggan, Kieran Duffy, Fintan Kelly, Karl O’Connell, Darren Hughes, Kieran Hughes, Shane Carey and Conor McManus all tasted action to various extents here. All over 30, with a host of others on the cusp of that trembling threshold.
But it was a boyish 23-year-old Ryan O’Toole who decided matters in the end.
There were 30 seconds left of time added on when Monaghan had the ball on the half-way line, trailing by a point. Ryan Wylie carried it forward, transferring to Karl O’Connell.
Out wide right, Tyrone sub Niall Sludden had an eye on O’Toole creeping up the flank but he committed to going to Kieran Duffy when he received the pass. Duffy immediately flicked over Sludden’s head and into O’Toole’s path.
His championship debut. One in which he spent the opening 20 minutes marking Darren McCurry before being switched onto Darragh Canavan who had compiled 1-4 by then.
In the 76th minute, the intercounty playbook would almost dictate that you took that possession and fisted carefully over the bar to bring it to extra-time.
O’Toole chose life. He drilled the ball low and hard and it almost caught goalkeeper Niall Morgan by surprise as he went to ground but didn’t have enough time to get his feet in position.
“You never know what you are thinking in those situations. You just kinda live in the moment a wee bit,” he said with a beaming red face afterwards.
“I just said, ‘Here, I am going to go for this here. And thankfully it went in and that’s all I can say about it.”
After going in 1-10 to 0-8 down at the break, the comeback was launched with early points before a hammer blow of a goal from Stephen O’Hanlon.
Goalkeeper Rory Beggan picked a pass to the brilliant Karl Gallagher who was an effective target man. He played on to Stephen O’Hanlon who burned by Conor Meyler to dispatch a smart finish.
It was the first time Monaghan had led the game but after putting so much work into a first half in which they finished 1-10 to 0-8 up, they weren’t prepared to go meekly.
A Niall Morgan pointed ‘45’ and then Darragh Canavan’s final score restored parity.
Then it all got a bit dizzy on one of those days that you imagine the Ulster championship used to always be like but when they come along, boy…
McManus hit a free to go ahead again. McCurry answered it. Conor McCarthy decided to take control and clipped over one from play. Substitute Niall Sludden equalised.
As the clock ticked into the red, Monaghan’s blistering pace provided by O’Connell, O’Hanlon, Bannigan and McCarthy was causing huge panic right down the middle of Tyrone’s defence and McManus pointed another free from a Conn Kilpatrick foul on O’Connell.
Darren McCurry pointed his own free, then lofted another over after a brilliant interception from Cormac Munroe. One point up and all Monaghan had left was a throw of the dice.
Nobody thought that gamble involved O’Toole.
At least, few enough. Those inside the bubble might have felt it, according to manager Vinny Corey.
“I would have forgiven him for fisting it over the bar,” smiled Corey.
“He did the exact same three weeks ago against Mayo. He cut in from that far side and he planted it low into the net. Once I saw him shaping it, he’s going for it. It gave us a two-point cushion and Tyrone were chasing it again. If he had fisted it over the bar, it might have allowed Tyrone to get another point and a winner.”
There you go. Always the quiet ones.
Scorers for Monaghan: Conor McManus 0-9, 8f, Ryan O’Toole 1-1, Stephen O’Hanlon 1-0, Conor McCarthy 0-2, Jack McCarron 0-2f, Kieran Duffy, Michael Bannigan, Shane Carey 0-1 each
Scorers for Tyrone: Darragh Canavan 1-5, 1f, Darren McCurry 0-5, 3f, Matthew Donnelly 0-3, Conor Meyler 0-2, Conn Kilpatrick, Niall Sludden 0-1 each, Niall Morgan 0-1, 1x’45′
Tyrone
1. Niall Morgan (Edendork)
2. Michael McKernan (Coalisland), 3. Ronan McNamee (Aghyaran), 4. Padraig Hampsey (Coalisland)
5. Conor Meyler (Omagh), 6. Peter Harte (Errigal Ciaran), 7. Cormac Quinn (Errigal Ciaran)
8. Brian Kennedy (Derrylaughan), 9. Conn Kilpatrick (Edendork)
10. Frank Burns (Pomeroy), 11. Michael O’Neill (Ardboe), 12. Kieran McGeary (Pomeroy)
13. Darren McCurry (Edendork), 14. Matthew Donnelly (Trillick), 15. Darragh Canavan (Errigal Ciaran)
Subs:
25. Joe Oguz (Errigal Ciaran) for O’Neill (46)
26. Niall Sludden (Dromore) for McGeary (61)
17. Ruairi Canavan (Errigal Ciaran) for Donnelly (62)
21. Michael McGleenan (Eglish) for Burns (66)
23. Cormac Munroe (Carrickmore) for McKernan (73)
Monaghan
1. Rory Beggan (Scotstown)
2. Thomas McPhillips (Latton), 3. Kieran Duffy (Latton), 4. Ryan Wylie (Ballybay)
5. Conor Boyle (Clontibret), 20. Karl O’Connell (Tyholland), 7. Ryan O’Toole (Scotstown)
8. Darren Hughes (Scotstown), 9. Killian Lavelle (Clontibret)
10. Stephen O’Hanlon (Carrickmacross), 11. Michael Bannigan (Annaghmullan), 12. Conor McCarthy (Scotstown)
13. Jack McCarron (Scotstown), 14. Karl Gallagher (Emyvale), 15. Conor McManus (Clontibret)
Subs:
19. Shane Carey (Scotstown) for McPhillips (34)
23. Kieran Hughes (Scotstown) for Darren Hughes (41)
17. Sean Jones (Inniskeen) for McCarron (54)
6. Dessie Ward (Ballybay) for O’Connell (77)
21. Fintan Kelly (Clones) for O’Toole (77)
Referee: Niall Cullen (Erne Gaels)
Get instant updates on the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues on The42 app. Brought to you by Allianz Insurance, proud sponsors of the Allianz Leagues for over 30 years.
