Mournemen slip to preliminary quarters

18 June 2025

DOWN will have to rely on a preliminary quarter-final to remain in the race for Sam Maguire after they fell to defeat against Monaghan in their final All-Ireland group match.

The Mourne Men entered Sunday’s clash at the Armagh Athletic Grounds knowing a victory or a draw would be enough to see them progress to the last eight of the competition, and their chances looked promising for much of the contest.

John McGeough’s first half goal gave Down the edge and although Micheál Bannigan netted at the other end just 10 minutes later, it was the men in red and black that took a one-point lead into half-time.

They stretched the margin to four after the break, but Monaghan reignited themselves in the final 20 minutes and snatched top spot in Group 3 with a controversial goal and a flurry of points.

Down struggled to get to grips with their Oriel County opponents in the opening exchanges, conceding the first three points of the game to Stephen O’Hanlon, Adam Woods and Bannigan.

Conor Laverty’s side came to within margins of producing the perfect response when Odhran Murdock drove through on goal in the seventh minute, but he was denied by a heroic block from Ryan Wylie.

Pat Havern has made a name for himself as one of the best long-distance shooters around, and he got Down off the mark with a trademark two-pointer.

However, on this occasion, the Down marksman met his match in Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan, who restored his side’s three-point buffer with a free from range.

The two teams traded a score apiece, before the talismanic Havern continued to impress with another free, launching Down in front for the first time.

Monaghan, intent on regaining the lead, came back firing with scores from Conor McCarthy and Micheal McCarville, but their newfound advantage was over almost as soon as it had started.

Down played the ball out from the back, with great passing movements from Havern, Adam Crimmins and Daniel Guinness, and Ryan McEvoy delivered a pin-point pass over the top of the opposition defence.

The clever, hooked ball caught Monaghan unawares and found McGeough, whose driven shot passed through the fingers of Beggan and into the bottom corner.

There was plenty of time left for drama to unfold in the first half and after the two sides exchanged a series of blows, a mishap from Guinness proved to be the perfect gift for Monaghan.

He let the ball slip from his grasp and Ryan McAnespie took full advantage, setting up Bannigan for an expert finish into the corner of the net.

Down regrouped and responded in fine fashion, hitting three points without reply and claiming pole position in the build-up to half-time.

Beggan added to his tally with the final score of the half, pulling the Farney to within one with another two-point free.

Monaghan levelled the scoring from the restart, only for traded scores to end with Down holding a 1-17 to 1-16 lead.

The Mourne County kicked on from there, building their strongest margin of the game courtesy of superb two-point conversions from Danny Magill and Havern.

However, there was to be a cruel twist in the tale, as McCarthy was denied by Down ‘keeper Ronan Burns and Bannigan rattled the post on the rebound, before Jack McCarron followed in to hit the back of the net.

The controversy surrounding the goal was that McCarron had picked the ball up off the ground and despite an official looking directly at the play, it was not ruled out.

Sometimes that bit of luck is required to win a game and while they were fortunate, Monaghan found several more gears to take a two-point lead.

Down could rightly feel aggrieved, but they were noticeably rocked and eventually became the architects of their own downfall.

A frustrating breach of the three back rule put paid to a promising attack and handed Monaghan a two-point free, which Beggan dully converted.

A point from substitute David Garland increased the margin to five and while Conor McCrickard clipped one final free over for Down, it had no bearing on the final result.

Finishing second in the group means Down will now face a preliminary quarter-final against Galway at Páirc Esler at 1.45pm on Sunday.

Monaghan: R Beggan, K Lavelle, K Duffy, D Byrne, R Wylie, R O’Toole, A Carey, M McCarville, D Ward, R McAnespie, S O’Hanlon, C McCarthy; A Woods, M Bannigan, S Mooney. Subs: J McCarron, L Kelly, D Garland, D Hughes, C McNulty.

Down: R Burns, P Fegan, P Laverty, P McCarthy; C Doherty, M Rooney, R Magill, O Murdock, J Guinness, D Magill, P Havern, D Guinness, A Crimmins, J McGeough, R McEvoy. Subs: C Mooney, E Branagan, C McCrickard, O Savage, A McClements.

Monaghan 2-27

Down 1-26

ALL-IRELAND SFC GROUP 3

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