Hotshot McVerry points way as Armagh march on
Armagh 2-14 Monaghan 2-8 Ulster MFC
Monday July 06 2009
Eugene McVerry was the executioner-in-chief with a personal tally of 1-7 as a hungrier, slicker Armagh saw off Monaghan to reach the Ulster final.
In what was a more one-sided affair than the scoreline might suggest, Armagh dominated play for almost the entire hour, with Monaghan enjoying their best spell in the opening minutes when they got off to the best possible start with a goal by Pete Dooney after just 15 seconds.
However, a goal by Gavin McParland in the sixth minute got Armagh off the mark and they began to take increasing control as Rory Grugan, Robbie Tasker and McVerry in particular led the Farney men on a merry dance in Clones.
Monaghan pulled back two points late in the half to keep in touch, but the visitors led by 1-6 to 1-4 at the interval.
In the second half, Armagh continued to dominate but could not put any real daylight between themselves and their clearly second-best opponents.
It took an equalising goal from a penalty by Jack McCarron nine minutes into the second half to spark Armagh to their most devastating form.
From then on, Tasker and McVerry struck some sensational points to open a four-point gap with five minutes remaining.
Monaghan, to their credit, fought to the end but Armagh clinched a deserved victory when McParland netted their second goal as the game went into stoppage time.
Scorers -- Armagh: E McVerry 1-7, G McParland 1-1, R Tasker 0-3, R Grugan 0-2, A Murnin 0-1. Monaghan: J McCarron 1-2, P Dooney 1-1, A McCarey 0-3, D McKenna, S Coyle 0-1 each.
Armagh: S O'Reilly; K Downey, R Finnegan, K Nugent; D McKenna, N Rowland, J Morgan; P Carragher, J Donnelly; R Grugan, A Murnin, C King; R Tasker, E McVerry, G McParland. Subs: T McAlinden for Donnelly.
Monaghan: D McDermott; C Crowe, P McGuirk, E Coyle; N McKeown, P Boyle, R Courtney; P Dooney, K Duffy; S McElroy, D McKenna, D Savage; S Coyle, A McCarey, J McCarron. Subs: J Kerr for Boyle, S McCarthy for McElroy, D Burns for Crowe, P McGuigan for Savage.
Ref: J Galligan (Cavan).
