NFL 1: Monaghan beat Mayo but suffer drop
April 10, 2011
Monaghan's Mark Downey and Andy Moran of Mayo contest the ball during the NFL at Inniskeen.
Eamonn McEneaney's charges finished level with Armagh on four points each, but the Orchard County's win over Monaghan in the Athletic Grounds - when they pointed a winner deep into stoppage time - means the luckless Farney men take the drop.
Paul Finlay was a late addition to the starting XV for this game and he proved the match-winner with seven second-half points and eleven in all; the returning Tommy Freeman hit 1-3.
Mayo led by 1-9 to 1-7 at the break, having landed three points inside the first five minutes.
Monaghan moved ahead by 1-2 to 0-4 after ten minutes, with Tommy Freeman bagging the goal after six following persistent work from full forward Christopher McGuinness. Freeman and Conor McManus had added points for the hosts.
But Alan Freeman and Jason Doherty put Mayo in front before Monaghan's McManus and Finlay both missed Monaghan goal chances. Freeman and Finlay pointed at either end to make it 1-4 to 0-6.
Finlay's 26th-minute point made it 1-7 to 0-7 but Campbell and Doherty points and a goal from Andy Moran put the visitors two ahead at the short whistle.
Tommy Freeman and Finlay levelled before Campbell and McManus traded points. Finlay and Moran swapped points, 1-11 each 17 minutes into the second half.
Doherty then bagged his seventh goal of the current league campaign, dancing through the entire Monaghan defence to finish, 2-11 to 1-11, but Monaghan refused to roll over and Finlay pulled back two points.
The magnificent Finlay brought his tally to 0-11 and full back Darren Hughes scored an inspirational point as the hosts led by 1-18 to 2-13 going into injury time.
Monaghan: M Keogh; K Duffy, D Hughes (0-1), C Walshe; C Galligan, D Mone, M McNally; N McAdam, O Lennon; D Clerkin, C McManus (0-3, frees), M Downey; C McGuinness, P Finlay (0-11, nine frees), T Freeman (1-3). Subs : J Turley for M Downey, S Gollogly for C McGuinness, D McArdle for M McNally, D Morgan for C Walshe, O Duffy for D Clerkin.
Mayo: D Clarke; C Hallinan, A Feeney, K Higgins; P Gardiner, G Cafferkey, J Burke (0-2); S O'Shea, T Parsons; A Campbell (0-4, two frees), A Moran (1-1), K McLoughlin (0-1); E Varley, A Freeman (0-1), J Doherty (1-3, two frees). Subs : R O'Connor for P Gardiner, R Rochford for C Hallinan, A Kilcoyne (0-1) for A Campbell, B Moran for S O'Shea.
Ref: E Kinsella (Laois) Tweet
