Vinney Corey’s men comfortably beat Donegal 1-20 to 0-15 in Clones, writes Jack Gannon.
It was Donegal who opened the scoring before Rory Beggans double saw his side lead Donegal by a point after three minutes.
The sides would subsequently trade two points each; Jack McCarron and Shane Carey were on target for Monaghan as they led Donegal four points to three after 11 minutes.
Donegal took the lead with two scores in as many minutes before Jack McCarron was able to level the sides with a well taken free on 20 minutes. McCarron then gave his side the lead from another free eight minutes later.
Donegal gained two scores in a row to give themselves a seven to six point advantage at the break.
Second-Half
Both sides made a blistering start to the second-half as they traded three scores each. Stephan O’Hanlon and two points from Jack McCarron saw the score-line level at nine points a-piece after 41 minutes.
This wouldn’t last for very long however as Donegal gave themselves a two point advantage after 46 minutes. Monaghan went on a tear, landing six points without reply as they led Donegal by four points on 57 minutes.
Oisin Gallon was able to break Donegal’s 15-minute scoring duck on the hour mark with a much needed free.
That was before Monaghan would gain another three points without reply, two coming from substitute Conor McManus. The score after 65 minutes was 18 points to 12 in Mongahan’s favour.
Donegal were not done yet however, two quickfire points from Conor O’Donnell reducing Monaghan’s lead to four.
Sean Jones would wrap it up for his side in injury time however, as he calmly finished a great team move. He would then grab his second point of the game a minute later.
Ciaran Duffy rounded off a great defensive display with a well taken score before Donegal's Michael Langan got the last score of the game.
The final score read Monaghan 1-20 to Donegal's 15 points.
