Monaghan tasted victory for the first time in Allianz football league division one beating Donegal 1-12 to 0-10 at Ballybofey.
The Farney men laid a solid foundation for victory in the first half leading 1-7 to 0-4 at the break and held on for a five-point victory.
The visitors started impressively and Andrew Woods’ goal on 10 minutes gave Monaghan an early five-point buffer. Paddy McBrearty was Donegal’s only scorer as Monaghan led 1-3 to 0-1.
Conor McManus stretched the margin to seven points on the half-hour mark before Donegal registered two of the next three scores making it a six-point game at the interval.
Ten minutes into the second half, Donegal reduced the margin to three points and the same margin separated the sides with eight minutes remaining.
Monaghan finished with a flourish hitting three of the last four scores; points from Kieran Duffy, Micheal Bannigan and Conor McManus sealed victory for the Farney men.
The result is a major boost for Monaghan’s survival chances in division one while Donegal’s 21-match unbeaten run at Ballybofey has now ended.
