It might have been a signature win for Ger Brennan and Louth. Coming up to face the Farney men, they hadn’t beaten a Division 1 side in championship since they turned over Westmeath in 2014.
And even if Monaghan are no longer the side that reached last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, raiding Clones would have been another feather in the cap of an already highly productive summer for the Wee men. But with the finish line in sight, they stuttered.
First, Ciarán Downey spurned the chance to put them six clear with a point attempt from a mark. A few minutes later, a sloppy pass across the Louth area was intercepted by Micheál Bannigan. He kept his cool to lob the ball into an empty net.
Sam Mulroy had the chance to stem the bleeding with a free. From a tight angle, he went with his left foot. Earlier in the day, Mulroy had notched two points thanks to the assistance of a post. On this occasion, his effort hit the upright and bounced back out and into play.
Suddenly, all the cards were coming up for Monaghan and in those scenarios, they don’t need much encouragement. Conor McManus, on as a sub, pulled the teams level from a free.
Then they looked ready to dip over the line at the perfect moment as a long-range Rory Beggan free gave them the lead for the first time on 65 minutes.
Mulroy equalised for Louth before Monaghan engineered one more chance deep in injury-time. However, Ryan O’Toole’s effort fell the wrong side of the post.
It was a breathless finish to a game that never really set pulses racing to that point.
Monaghan came into this having lost eight on the spin (six league and two championship outings). And they played like a side low on confidence with each of their six first-half wides drawing energy from their legs.
Craig Lennon grabbed Louth’s first goal (he scored two against Meath last weekend) which sparked an instant response from Conor McCarthy.
But Conor Grimes goaled again just before half-time to give the visitors a 2-5 to 1-3 lead at the break.
Louth looked to be managing the game well for much of the second half and led by five points before Monaghan’s late surge.
Afterwards, Louth manager Ger Brennan was caught between being pleased with progression and knowing his side should have seen the game out.
“You have to give credit to our lads,” said Brennan, who has injury worries over two of his key players – Lennon and Downey.
“The game was slightly going against us with one or two unforced errors and Monaghan kept pressing and took some of their opportunities.
“Credit goes to our lads for the way they responded and the point takes us through. We were in the ascendancy but there are areas of the game that we have to work on, which is no harm.
“It was a sloppy goal but the response of the lads was really impressive to get back into the game. It feels like a defeat in some ways because we were in control for large parts. Then again, you’re playing against a team like Monaghan who never die and were All-Ireland semi-finalists last year.”
Vinny Corey sounded a similar note. Without a win since beating Dublin in the first round of the league in January, he was pleased his side worked a draw to stop the rot. And in the process they set up a winner-takes-all championship showdown with struggling Meath in a fortnight’s time.
“When you are on a losing streak it gets harder and harder to get it turned, you know? Listen, the boys, it would have been easy for them to feel sorry for themselves but they got themselves lifted up and came back again and got the game turned around and go a point up and possibly could have won it. We were a point up before that and maybe there was a soft enough free down the other end to equalise it.
“We came back up the field again and we had a chance, I think we might have fumbled it and then we got the ball back again and worked it well to the edge of the ‘D’ and the shot went wide.
“It would have been a nice way to snatch it because we knew with the clock time was running out and it was the last kick. It would have been nice but you ended the run of losing games, it’s just a matter of trying to win one now.”
SCORERS – Monaghan: M Bannigan 1-1; C McCarthy 1-0; C McManus 0-2 (2f); J Wilson, C McNulty, G Mohan, R O’Toole, K Duffy (m), R Beggan (f) J McCarron (f) 0-1 each. Louth: S Mulroy 0-7 (6f, 1 45); C Lennon, C Grimes 1-0; R Burns 0-2; C Downey 0-1.
MONAGHAN: R Beggan 7; R Wylie 7, K Duffy 6, R O’Toole 7; J Irwin 7, K Lavelle 7 C McCarthy 7; G Mohan 7, J Wilson 7; S O’Hanlon 7, M Bannigan 7, M Hamill 6; C McNulty 6, J McCarron 6, R McAnespie 7. Subs: K O’Connell 6 for Duffy (h-t), C McManus 7 for McCarron (46), A Woods 6 for O’Connell (54), S Jones for Hammill (63), M McCarville for Wilson (74).
LOUTH: N McDonnell 7; D McKenny 6, D Corcoran 7, P Lynch 7; C McKeever 7, A Williams 7, C Lennon 7; T Durnin 7, B Duffy 7; N Sharkey 6, C Keenan 8, C Grimes 7; R Burns 7, S Mulroy 7, C Downey 7. Subs: L Grey for Lennon (55), C Byrne for Downey (55), P Mathews for Sharkey (66), T Jackson for Burns (67),
REF: F Kelly (Longford).
