GAA: More penalty heartbreak for Armagh

Kieran Lynch at Croke Park

Armagh bowed out of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship at the quarter-final stage on Saturday evening, losing out on penalties for the third time in the championship in just over 12 months.

Last June it was Galway. In May it was Derry. Tonight, it was Monaghan.

It was a game in which neither side could separate themselves from one another – they were level at every possible number from one through to 14, eventually deadlocking at 0-14 apiece, with neither side able to gain an advantage greater than a one-point lead across the 90 minutes of action at Croke Park.

Armagh’s Rian O’Neill claimed the ball from the throw-in and 40 seconds later Aidan Forker put them ahead with a fabulous long-range point, with Monaghan never touching the ball in-between.

The Orchard County’s next score wouldn’t come until the fifteenth minute – from a Rian O’Neil free - with Monaghan’s Conor McCarthy and Jack McCarron both scoring in-between, during a cagey start to the game.

Gary Mohan put Monaghan back in front after McCarron had hit the post, but Rian O’Neill responded from a free. Armagh then went ahead after a well worked move was finished off with an Andrew Murnin point. Ciaran Mackin overturned the Monaghan kick-out and played the ball to Greg McCabe who supplied Jason Duffy, and after Duffy laid the ball off, the St Paul’s man applied the finish.

Mohan squared it up at 0-4 apiece, but Rian O’Neill added his third from a free – this one the best of the lot – as he connected perfectly with his strike and sent the ball over from out near the left side-line, just inside the ’45.

Monaghan continued to have an answer for Armagh, and after a prolonged spell of possession, they were level again through McCarthy.

Then, Armagh’s Stefan Campbell almost scored a Croke Park goal for the ages, as he stormed forward on a marauding solo run, but his shot was blocked by Mohan. However, Armagh did take a one-point lead in at the break, with a Murnin point from a mark the final score of the half.

Early in the second period, Monaghan introduced legendary forward Conor McManus, and he made an immediate impact by drawing a foul and converting from the resulting free.

Rian O’Neill responded from a dead ball, but Mohan and McCarron scored points to put Monaghan back in front. The tit-for-tat nature of the game continued, as Forker drew Armagh level, but McCarthy scored his third to make it 0-9 to 0-8 in his side’s favour.

Rory Grugan levelled matters for a ninth time with his first point, before his second point levelled the game for a tenth time – as it followed Michael Bannigan’s putting the Farney County back in front.

With 15 minutes to go, Armagh almost had a goal when Campbell stormed forward and supplied Conor Turbitt with possession at the last second, but goalkeeper Rory Beggan read the danger and pulled off a stunning save.

From the resulting ’45, Rian O’Neill put his side ahead, but the game was level once again when Bannigan replied. Possibly shooting for a goal, his rasping shot was too high and raised a white flag instead of a green.

Vinny Corey’s men had another goal chance minutes later when Ryan Wylie broke clear of four Armagh defenders, but his shot was kept out by Ethan Rafferty at the near post.

In the dying stages, the tension was palpable with every score absolutely crucial, and as he has done time and again over the years, McManus stepped up and delivered to make it 0-12 to 0-11 with five minutes to go.

But it wasn’t over yet. Armagh’s Murnin got a hand to Forker’s shot and turned it over for a point to ensure the sides were level heading into stoppage time. Monaghan’s Sean Jones was then shown a harsh black card.

Armagh’s Turbitt had possession with the seconds ticking away, but he was denied by an outstanding shoulder to shoulder tackle, and into extra-time it went.

The first half of extra-time followed the same script as before. Ross McQuillan put Armagh ahead. McManus equalised.

Then, controversy arose when Bannigan shot to put Monaghan ahead, and the umpire, unsure whether it was over or wide called for Hawk Eye, but the technology was unavailable, and the shot was ruled as a wide.

Armagh thought they had won it at the death when Rian O’Neill bombed the ball over the bar from range, but Monaghan had other ideas and McManus held his nerve, pointing from a free with the last kick of the game.

After a marathon penalty shootout it wasn’t to be Armagh’s day, as they repeated their fortunes from last season and bowed out of the All-Ireland SFC at the quarter-final stage, losing 9-8 to the Farney County on spot-kicks.

MATCH STATS

ARMAGH: E Rafferty; P Burns, A McKay, A Forker (0-2); C O’Neill, G McCabe, J Burns; Ciaran Mackin, B Crealey; J Duffy, R Grugan (0-2, 1f), S Campbell; J McElroy, R O’Neill (0-6, 4f, 1’45), A Murnin (0-3, 1m).

Subs: C Turbitt for Crealey (46), C Cumiskey for McCabe (51), J Hall for Duffy (54), R McQuillan (0-1) for Hall (65), S McPartlan for McElroy (69), B McCambridge for Forker (75), J Kieran for Burns (HT/ET), O Conaty for Campbell (90).

MONAGHAN: R Beggan; D Hughes, Kieran Duffy, R Wylie; K O’Connell, C Boyle, C McCarthy (0-3); K Gallagher, K Lavelle; S O’Hanlon, M Bannigan (0-2), R McAnespie; J McCarron (0-2, 1f), G Mohan (0-3), D Ward.

Subs: C McManus (0-4, 3f) for Gallagher (40), R O’Toole for Lavelle (53), S Jones for McCarron (56), S Carey for McAnespie (61), K Hughes for Ward (68), Lavelle for Carey (ET), C Lennon for Boyle (HT/ET), Carey for McCarthy (HT/ET), McCarron for O’Connell (85), O’Connell for O’Hanlon (88).

Referee: Conor Lane (Cork).

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