| Monaghan survive Clones cyclone
A last-gasp point kept Monaghan’s push for top-spot in Division
2A of the League on track after a bruising encounter at Clones on Sunday.
So far in the division the Farneymen have brushed past sides with ease
but Offaly shocked the table-toppers and almost caused an upset.
Offaly more than matched their opponents for most of this match with the
talented Niall McNamee clipping over nine points but Monaghan are an excellent
defensive team and in the end were full value for their hard-fought win.
The Faithful men led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval but they should have
been further ahead having dominated possession.
Some wasteful shooting by Pat Roe’s men would end up costing them.
However McNamee did hit five of their first-half scores with the others
coming from the boot of Neville Coughlan.
Monaghan have a much more effective spread of attacking players at their
disposal and they reeled off five unanswered points at the start of the
second-half to take the lead. The excellent Tommy Freeman kicked the pick
of those points continuing where he left off at Ruislip a week earlier.
Reaching the Leinster final last year has done wonders for the confidence
of Offaly football and they didn’t fold despite being well behind
as the minutes ticked away in Clones.
They scored four swift points to level matters and a shock victory was
on the cards.
A draw would have been harsh on Monaghan who’ve been a revelation
in 2007 and after McNamee missed a late chance to put Offaly ahead Monaghan
substitute Paul Meegan popped up to score a late point to secure the win.
The Ulster side have good players in every area and in Tommy Freeman possess
one of the country’s best attacking players.
Offaly are a side who are reliant on McNamee and Coughlan too much to
be real contenders at this level but few teams will fancy facing them
come the heat of the Championship summer. |
