Monaghan pull away from Armagh to advance to Ulster U-20 final

Monaghan 1-15 Armagh 0-13

Armagh had too much for Monaghan at the Athletic Grounds.

Monaghan carved out a path into the Ulster semi-final with a show of finesse and accurate score-taking to overcome a more physical and imposing Armagh at the Box-It Athletic grounds.

Both sides exchanged scores in the opening 10 minutes with Stephen Mooney deadly accurate as he finished with ten points, nine of those from placed balls. The home side did open up a three-point lead by the end of the first quarter as Fergal O’Brien, Ruari O’Brien and Fergal Boylan all fired over long-distance efforts.

But it was one moment of magic from the Farney full forward Bobby McCaul that swung the game as he broke a high ball down to himself and then turned on a sixpence to volley to the back of the net. That score put the visitors one point up and they tagged on a further three to lead by four.

Armagh countered with two points but Monaghan finished the half with another Mooney free to lead by 1-07 to 0-7.

The two sides exchanged scores in the opening minutes of the second half before Monaghan took control as the Orchard county went almost 20 minutes before their next score. By that stage the visitors were 1-12 to 0-8 points up and well on their way to the last four.

Armagh manager Barry O’Hagan rang the changes as he brought in fresh legs but Monaghan were in no mood to step off the intensity as they forced a number of turnovers and punished them at the opposite end of the field.

Scorers – Monaghan: S Mooney (0-10, 9f), B McCaul (1-1), D Mc Kenna (0-2), S Callan (0-1), O McGorman (0-1)

Armagh: Ruari O’Brien (0-05, 4f, 1 45), Gareth Murphy (0-2), Fergal O’Brien (0-1), Pierce Blessing (0-1), Fergal Boylan (0-1), Aaron O’Neill (0-1), Tiernan Browne (0-1), Padraig O’Keefe (0-1)

Armagh: R.Stevens, E.Magee, O.Carragher, J.Lavery, F.O’Brien, G.Murphy, C.O’Neill, T.Grimley, P.Blessing, R.Duffy, R.O’Brien, F.Boylan, L.McKeever, A.O’Neill, M.Burnett

Subs used: P O’Keefe for M Burns, J. Austin for Luke McKeever, C McGeough for J. Lavery, T Browne for F. Boylan.

Monaghan: J.Mooney, G.Devlin, J.McConnen, F.Coralan, P.Doogen-Burke, S.Callan, S.Casey, C.Foy, T.Hughes, D.McKenna, A.Carey, O.McGorman, S.Mooney, B.McCaul, K. Duffy

Subs used: D Mee for S Casey, J. Mc Mahon for O. McGorman