Clontibret's ambitions of completing a three in a row of senior football championship titles for the first time since the early 50s was derailed in Aughnamullen on Saturday afternoon last as Carrickmacross struck late and emphatically to dethrone the champions and throw the race wide open to see who can now lift Clontibret's crown. Clontibret by their own admission had not been producing their best form in this year's championship but were always doing enough to get through and approaching the end of last Saturday's contest that seemed to be the situation yet again. They did miss the services of Dessie Mone at the heart of the defence but that was not the reason they went out and Clontibret left empty-handed and dejected while Carrickmacross celebrated their return to the county final for the first time in nine years. Overall Clontibret can have few complaints in that they went out of this game in the middle period of the first half but recovered and produced probably their best championship form in the final eight minutes of the opening period when they scored a goal and four points in a sizzling ten minutes spell, John Paul Mone with the goal from a penalty and Conor McManus firing over some excellent points. By the end of the third quarter though Clontibret knew they had a contest on their hands as Carrickmacross drew level but in keeping with the tradition they have established the champions responded to retake the lead but were then left to regret not capitalising better on a couple of goal chances when they opted for the safer option of taking a couple of points. At that stage of the game and with how things were balanced it was difficult to argue with the options that they took but it left the door ajar for Carrickmacross and they kicked it open with deadly effect in the final minutes. Earlier in the championship Carrickmacross had produced some great football and had put up some very good displays but often found themselves fighting a rearguard action as they seemed to lose their concentration in the final stages of matches. That however did not happen on Saturday last and it was Carrickmacross who regrouped and refocused to strike for a goal and two points to seal a memorable victory. The overall outcome from the double bill on Saturday last in Aughnamullen however means that Carrickmacross have to wait at least another week to see who they will play in the county final on October 12th after Castleblayney and Latton finished in stalemate at the end of a pulsating and at times highly charged encounter. It is difficult to assess which of them left Aughnamullen on Saturday afternoon last the more satisfied after the outcome of this contest, Castleblayney perhaps feeling they got out of jail after an indifferent first half or Latton feeling that perhaps they should have killed the game off as opposed to having to fight back for an injury time equaliser. The manner in which the sides analyse and react to the outcome will go some way to deciding the replay when they meet on Saturday for what should be another cracking contest. Latton will look to start a little better than they did as Castleblayney stole an early advantage to lead by four points after 10 minutes but Latton turned on the power in the final four minutes of the opening quarter to lead by two points and with a sizzling second quarter they extended that lead to seven points and Castleblayney with few answers. Latton will rue the concession of a somewhat opportunist goal in injury time at the end of the first half that threw Castleblayney a life line and left them only facing a four points half-time disadvantage as opposed to seven. Early points in the second half saw them cut the deficit to two and by the end of the third quarter they had actually taken the lead, a goal again crucial as Latton were punished on the counter attack. It was tense stuff going into the final quarter and the exchanges continued to be of the keenest with Latton fighting back to parity by the 25th minute and then having to do this all over again in stoppage time after Castleblayney had taken a late lead. Latton also suffered another blow with Bernard O'Brien having to withdraw from the contest for a considerable time for treatment to a facial injury and that may have to some extent affected Latton's fluency. It was a game that left both sides with plenty to ponder but overall the draw was probably a fair enough result. The draw though does throw up the possibility that the winners may look for a postponement of the county final from October 12th to a later date as they would only have a week to get over the exertions of their replayed semi-final to prepare for a showdown with Carrickmacross. That however is up to the controlling body but the date for the final of the senior football championship in Monaghan is generally regarded as being cast in stone although the necessity for a second replay would need a re-examination of that stance. The only other action of note last weekend was the meeting of Drumhowan and Toome in the junior football league with Drumhowan putting down something of a marker for next weekend's junior championship semi-final meeting between the same sides as they recorded a fairly comfortable victory. Tweet

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