Dublin 0-17 Monaghan 0-16

BY BRENDAN O'BRIEN

Dublin remain on track for a third straight Division One Allianz League title, but only after an unexpectedly close-run victory over Monaghan in the second of the day’s semi-finals at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

Jim Gavin’s side will meet Cork in the decider in three weeks’ time after the Rebels saw of Donegal in a high-scoring but bloodless clash earlier in the day at HQ. It was the Munster side that held the title for the two years prior to Dublin’s current spring ascendancy.

Dublin had eleven points to spare on Monaghan when the sides met in Clones in the last round of the league stages seven days earlier, but they found here an opponent that had spent five of the intervening days training in Portugal and a much tougher nut to crack.

Jim Gavin’s side held the lead for the majority of the affair, but it never crested a three-point margin and only two points separated them at half-time. The gap at the same stage seven days previously had been seven and that spoke for the more competitive nature of the fare second time around.

Dublin, with three changes to the team since the previous Sunday, never displayed the same fluidity or the urgency that had been on evidence in the earlier encounter and duly lost their advantage with thirteen minutes remaining in the second-half.

It was an unforeseen turn of events for the crowd of 20,013 and breathed some overdue tension and drama into an afternoon devoid of it up until then, though the favourites and holders roused themselves to reel off a quartet of unanswered scores after 13 minutes without one.

It proved enough, but only just as Monaghan responded with another brace before the finish to leave the narrowest of margins between them by the time Rory Hickey called for the ball. Entertaining stuff.

Scorers for Dublin: D Rock (0-7, 4f and 1 ‘45’); K McManamon, P McMahon and Brian Fenton (all 0-2); D Bastick, P Flynn, J McCaffrey and E O’Conghaile (all 0-1)

Scorers for Monaghan: C McManus (0-8, 3f); D Clerkin (0-3); K Hughes (0-2); N McAdam (0-1); R Beggan and P Finlay (both 0-1f);

Dublin: S Cluxton; J Cooper, D Byrne, J McCaffrey; J Small, P McMahon, J McCarthy; C O’Sullivan, D Bastick; P Flynn, D Connolly, B Fenton; K McManamon, D Rock, C Kilkenny. Subs: MD Macauley for O’Sullivan (45); P Andrews for McManamon (50); D Daly for Byrne and E O’Conaghaile for Bastick (both 53); C Costello for Fenton (61); T Brady for Flynn (69).

Monaghan: R Beggan; F Kelly, K Duffy, R Wylie; K O’Connell, V Corey, N McAdam; D Hughes, P Finlay; D Mone, K Hughes, T Kerr; R McAnespie, C McManus, O Duffy. Subs: D Clerkin for Kerr (HT); D Malone for Duffy (41); S Gollogly for McAnespie (43); P McKenna for Finlay (63); D McKenna for O’Connell (69).

Referee: R Hickey (Clare).