Ulster U21: Monaghan saunter past Erne boys
Feargal McMahon
EIRGRID ULSTER U21 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL: MONAGHAN 1-15 FERMANAGH 0-3
By Colm Shalvey at Inniskeen
Monaghan hit an unanswered 1-10 in the second half of this one-sided Eirgrid Ulster U21 Football Championship quarter-final to put Fermanagh to the sword in Inniskeen.
Monaghan were 0-5 to 0-0 up after 20 minutes and although they saw their lead cut to two by half-time, they totally dominated from there on, with Fermanagh’s challenge faltering after their captain Eoin McManus was sent off in the 43rd minute.
Monaghan opened the scoring within 20 seconds through Dessie Ward, but there was a gap of almost 12 minutes before the next score arrived via Barry McGinn.
Further points by McGinn, Conor McCarthy and Fearghal McMahon pushed Monaghan clear, but Fermanagh rallied with scores from frees by Seán Keenan and Eoin McManus, either side of their only point from play by Paddy Rehill.
Monaghan led by 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time and they quickly asserted their dominance after the restart with McGinn and McCarthy kicking a brace of points each. More scores from McGinn and Ward followed by the end of the third quarter, by which stage Fermanagh had lost Eoin McManus, who was sent off when he was shown a black card, having already been on a yellow.
McGinn went on to take his tally to 1-5 and Ward landed a third point from wing-back, before substitute Adam Treanor finished with a flourish by kicking a hat-trick of late points as Monaghan cruised through to a semi-final clash with Armagh, who had an even more comprehensive win over Down.
**Scorers for Monaghan: **B McGinn 1-5 (1f), D Ward 0-3, A Treanor 0-3, C McCarthy 0-3 (2f), F McMahon 0-1
Scorers for Fermanagh: E McManus 0-1 (1f), P Rehill 0-1, S Keenan 0-1 (1f)
**MONAGHAN: **C Forde; B Kerr, M Murnaghan, K Loughran; D Ward, J Mealiff, A Curran; N Loughman, A Lynch; R McAnespie, B McGinn, D Meegan; M O’Dowd, C McCarthy, F McMahon. **Subs: **A Treanor for Meegan (black card, 30), F Maguire for McMahon (40), A Kieran for Loughran (42), B McBennett for McGinn (61).
**FERMANAGH: **J Kelly; S O’Hara, J Allen, M Jordan; C McManus, C Corrigan, D Leonard; E McManus (Capt.), P Rehill; J McCann, C McAuley, C Carney; J Flanagan, S Keenan, D Teague. **Subs: **S Rooney for Carney (H-T), T O’Hara for McCann, G Jones for McAuley (both 40), L Jones for Flanagan (53).
Referee: C Mooney (Down).
