Tommy Freeman's last-gasp free gave Monaghan a thrilling 1-13 to 1-12 victory over Derry in a riveting all-Ulster qualifier at Clones. After a good first-half showing, the winners relinquished control in the second half but they demonstrated tremendous character to chisel out the decisive scores in the last four minutes. Derry got on top for most of the second half but a series of wides from them and some impressive Monaghan grittiness ultimately decided the issue. Monaghan were very much the better team in the opening period but a lapse of concentration in injury time meant their short-whistle lead was a mere two points, 1-7 to 1-5. Dick Clerkin's goal on the half hour placed the hosts in the driving seat and they led by six points at the end of normal time in the first half. But a point from Enda Muldoon followed by an Eoin Bradley major - three minutes into two minutes of added time! - presented the national league winners with a lifeline their general play up until then scarcely deserved. Apart from wides by Enda Muldoon and Rory Woods, there was little of note in the first ten minutes, though Monaghan did start better than the visitors (in terms of approach play) but their inside forwards couldn't quite get on the end of persistent long, aimless balls. Paddy Bradley finally opened the scoring from a twelfth-minute free after a foul on Mark Lynch. Eoin Bradley doubled the Derry lead with a sweet strike off his trusty left boot with 13 minutes on the clock. But the Oriel County would move ahead with three scores in as many minutes: A foul on full back JP Mone as he was delivering the ball resulted in a Monaghan free from where the leather landed and Tommy Freeman made no mistake in closing the gap. Seconds later, Monaghan were level when Derry goalkeeper John Deighan gifted possession to Vincent Corey and the Monaghan full forward picked out Ciaran Hanratty, who found the target. Hanratty's second point in a minute - another excellent strike - had Monaghan 0-3 to 0-2 ahead after 16. On 19 minutes, Meath referee David Coldrick made a poor decision when he decided to let Oak Leaf midfielder Fergal Doherty - just back from suspension - away with a shove into the face of Dick Clerkin after the Monaghan man had fouled him. Doherty should clearly have received at least a yellow card. Derry then levelled with a Paddy Bradley free and went in front when Lynch clipped over a beautiful point. Woods fired wide off the outside of his right boot and the upright but Stephen Gollogly had the home county on terms with a superb score on 24 minutes, set up by great fielding from Eoin Lennon and an interchange involving Corey. Gollogly's second successive point - another beautiful strike after good play by Freeman and Hanratty - saw the lead change hands again as Monaghan went back ahead, 0-5 to 0-4 with 27 minutes played. In the 30th minute, Monaghan struck for the game's first goal. A long free into the Derry goalmouth was broken down in front of Clerkin and the industrious centre forward doubled first time on the ball with his left shin to give Banty's team a double scores advantage, 1-5 to 0-4. Excellent left-foot scores from Freeman and Conor McManus in the last minute of first-half normal time propelled rampant Monaghan into a six-point lead but Enda Muldoon's injury-time score from long range had the margin down to 1-7 to 0-5. Monaghan looked destined to take a deserved five-point lead into the break but, incredibly, Derry were handed a late lifeline in the third minute of added time. Just two minutes had been announced and the short whistle should have sounded but Monaghan were caught napping and Paddy Bradley's poor kick for the posts was screwed badly towards his brother Eoin, who eventually got it under control and dribbled a shot into the net past Padraig McBennett. It was an awful score to concede and it meant that Derry were within two points at the break. Suddenly, the Monaghan lead looked precarious and their eight first half wides (as opposed to three from Derry) looked like they could come back to haunt them. Magnificent fielding from Eoin Lennon was one of the features of the first half but all the good work was almost undone by those two late scores and Derry would also have wind advantage on the resumption. However, the Foylesiders hit an unbelievable nine wides in the second half, effectively shooting themselves in the foot once they got to grips with a Monaghan side who were reeling on the ropes at times. Monaghan worked the ball brilliantly from the full back line to open the second-half scoring with a curling point from Woods, but Paddy Bradley cancelled this one out instantly with his first point from play after Monaghan's daring attack broke down when Dessie Mone was crowded out. The tempo increased noticeably in the opening stages of the second half and Derry closed within a point on 42 minutes when corner back Joe O'Kane raided forward to fist a tidy point after a one-two with Muldoon. Tommy Freeman got out in front of his man to collect a long free and ran infield before kicking a great point high between the posts. As he had done in the first half off his right foot, Lynch tapped over a lovely left-foot point on the run to again reduce the Monaghan lead to a single point. Two mistakes from McManus in quick succession culminated in a chance for Paddy Bradley, whose effort was ruled inches wide. Sensing victory, Paddy Crozier threw Conleth Gilligan into the fray twelve minutes into the second half. At the same time, Monaghan brought in Shane Smyth, who would grab a vital late score. Derry were now first to everything and they were unfortunate when Man of the Match Damien Freeman got away with a blatant jersey tug within scoring distance of the Monaghan goal. Fifteen minutes into the half, Tommy Freeman burst through the Derry rearguard to claim his third point from play of the after noon. A fine score from the 2007 Ulster Footballer of the Year: 1-10 to 1-8. Substitute Colin Devlin replied to leave just a point in it again with a quarter of the match remaining at blustery Clones. The tide of red flowing towards the Monaghan goal was incessant, with the northerners winning every breaking ball, but some weak finishing kept the underdogs in it. In the 55th minute, the inevitable eventually happened when Fergal Doherty slotted over the levelling point for the Oak Leafers, who looked by far the stronger side with 15 minutes left. Christopher McCague notched Derry's lead score - their third in a row - and it looked all over as Monaghan had inexplicably faded out of the game and didn't seem to be competing any more. With 13 minutes left, dominant Derry led by 1-11 to 1-10. A Patsy Bradley foul on Hanratty produced a yellow card for the Derry player and a free for the Monaghan forward, which the No.19 missed badly. Hanratty redeemed himself immediately when he weaved and turned to drop a great kick onto the top of the net for the levelling point. Likewise, Paddy Bradley missed a fairly routine free by his own high standards but he found the range perfectly to give his team a precious lead with only four minutes left in a tense and energy-sapping encounter. Monaghan now had their backs to the wall but they responded with the game's last two sxcores. Within a minute, Smyth responded with a good point after a purposeful, patient Monaghan surge. Woods missed a Monaghan chance two minutes from time and the tension was almost unbearable as the sides stood toe to toe at 1-12 apiece with seconds remaining. A dangerous high tackle on Gollogly by McCague handed Monaghan a free in front of the posts on the stroke of full time and Tommy Freeman took responsibility for a pressure kick of enormous proportions. The Magheracloone man hit the target in the first of two added minutes and Lennon won the Derry kick-out to set up Damien Freeman, whose shot flew inches wide on 71 minutes. Derry were then awarded a free in the second minute of injury time and three minutes had elapsed by the time Lynch took his kick. It was deja-vu as the Meath referee seemed reluctant to blow his whistle, but Monaghan held possession to just about steal a narrow win, when it looked like the tide had turned against them. Monaghan - P McBennett; D Mone, JP Mone, D McArdle; D Freeman, D Hughes, P McGuigan; E Lennon, C Hanratty (0-3); C McManus (0-1), D Clerkin (1-0), S Gollogly (0-2); R Woods (0-1), V Corey, T Freeman (0-5, 2f). Subs - S Smith (0-1) for Hughes, N McAdams for McManus. Derry - J Deighan; K McCloy, N McCusker, J O'Kane (0-1); M McBride, G O'Kane, L Hinphey; F Doherty (0-1), Patsy Bradley; E Muldoon (0-1), E Bradley (1-1), R Wilkinson; C Devlin (0-1), P Bradley (0-4, 2f), M Lynch (0-2). Subs - C McKeague (0-1) for Hinphey, C Gilligan for R Wilkinson, P Murphy for Muldoon, J Diver for McCloy, J Conway for Patsy Bradley. Ref - D Coldrick (Meath). Tweet

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