Donegal are Ulster champions for the third time in four years after defeating holders Monaghan by 0-15 to 1-9 at Clones.

Jim McGuinness' charges, who were never fronted, deployed the defensive blanket to devastating effect to claim their eighth-ever provincial title as Monaghan's threat was snuffed out pretty much from start to finish.

An attendance of 31,912 spectators paid to see this tough tactical battle which culminated in the Tir Chonail men's first-ever Ulster minor/senior double (and McGuinness' first championship victory over Monaghan).

At the end of a turgid and tempestuous first-half that developed more and more into a war of attrition as the minutes went by, Donegal led by two points, 0-6 to 0-4. With both teams seemingly intent on getting as many players as possible behind the ball, the opening 35 minutes could best be described as a non-event.

Monaghan looked ponderous and nervous before the break and missed a number of presentable opportunities, perhaps distracted by the forest of yellow jerseys in front of them. Colm McFadden and Conor McManus were the most-isolated men on the field in the first half; better refereeing would have seen the defending champions awarded a penalty five minutes from the break…

There was only one score inside the opening ten minutes and it was supplied by Karl Lacey - a late addition to the Donegal starting XV, as were Neil Gallagher and Darach O'Connor. Efforts from Odhran MacNiallais and Colm McFadden (free) stretched the gap and Paul Finlay finally opened the holders' account with a stunning finish from distance in the 14th minute.

Monaghan had as much primary possession in dangerous areas as their opponents in the opening 20 minutes but their finishing and shot selection were poor and this enabled Jim McGuinness' men to still lead by 0-3 to 0-1 with 15 minutes left to the break.

Neil McGee and Dermot Malone were both shown yellow cards for a bit of argy-bargy and Finlay doubled the hosts' tally from a 23rd-minute free, which was awarded when Michael Murphy felled Dessie Mone and subsequently moved forward when the Donegal full forward - who was operating at centre back - disputed Maurice Deegan's decision.

Anthony Thompson ghosted forward to loft over the challengers' fourth point and Monaghan were the victims of poor officiating when a footblock by goalkeeper Paul Durcan on Fintan Kelly was somehow missed and the outcome was a '45' rather than a penalty, which goalkeeper Rory Beggan spooned between the posts.

Monaghan's Kieran Hughes and Dick Clerkin also picked up first-half yellow cards. MacNiallais and Finlay (free) popped over injury-time points to bring an end to a dour and bad-tempered opening period.

McFadden and Finlay swapped frees upon the resumption and Donegal moved further ahead thanks to further scores from MacNiallais and substitute Patrick McBrearty: 0-9 to 0-5 after 41 minutes.

Ten minutes into the second half, McFadden's free made it double scores but Monaghan replied with a converted Beggan free. On 49 minutes, substitute Christopher McGuinness pounced to give Malachy O'Rourke's charges some hope…

Just after coming into the action, McGuinness latched onto a breaking ball and ran at the heart of the Donegal defence before planting an unstoppable low shot past Durcan to the bottom right corner to make it a one-point game: 0-10 to 1-6.

Finlay's attempted equaliser flew wide and there was still a single point between the sides as we passed the three-quarters stage. The Tir Chonail men had to be content with a point when the influential Ryan McHugh's shot blazed over the crossbar on 54 minutes after good approach play from Neil McGee and Thompson. McBrearty's magnificent point from out the field made it 0-12 to 1-6 with 15 minutes left.

The McGuinness goal had been cancelled out when Murphy curled over a free for the visitors' third successive point. Kieran Hughes replied immediately to leave three points between the sides with an hour played.

The normally-dependable Beggan dropped a free short before McBrearty slotted his third point at the other end to stretch the gap to four with less than seven minutes to go; Corey powered forward to reply instantly with a fabulous point off his left foot.

Murphy brilliantly smashed over a Donegal free from the middle of the pitch two minutes from time to extinguish any lingering hopes of a dramatic revival and snuffed-out All Star McManus' first point of the match came far too late from Monaghan's perspective.

Donegal: P Durcan; E McGee, N McGee, F McGlynn; A Thompson (0-1), K Lacey (0-1), P McGrath; N Gallagher, C Toye; R McHugh (0-1), L McLoone, O MacNiallais (0-3); D O'Connor, M Murphy (0-2), C McFadden (0-4). Subs: P McBrearty (0-3) for O'Connor, R Kavanagh for Toye, M McElhinney for MacNiallais, D Walsh for McLoone, D Molloy for McFadden.

Monaghan: R Beggan (0-2), R Wylie, D Wylie, C Walshe, D Mone, V Corey (0-1), F Kelly, D Clerkin, D Hughes, P McKenna, S Gollogly, P Finlay (0-4), D Malone, K Hughes (0-1), C McManus (0-1). Subs: C McGuinness (1-0) for McKenna, O Duffy for Gollogly, K O'Connell for Kelly, P Donaghy for Malone, G Doogan for Clerkin.

Ref: M Deegan (Laois) Tweet

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