Farney men ramp it up in second-half to brush aside Rossies for Division 2 crown

March 29, 2025

Monaghan's Bobby McCaul and Colm Neary of Roscommon ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Monaghan are Allianz Football League Division 2 champions for the first time since 2014 after seeing off Roscommon with a sizzling second-half display at Croke Park.

Rory Beggan and Micheál Bannigan combined for a dozen points over the 70 minutes, while Jack McCarron contributed 1-2 off the bench as the Farney men won out by 1-26 to 0-19 to claim the silverware.

An airtight opening half at headquarters saw Cian McKeon’s point the difference between the sides at half-time, as the Rossies took in a 0-12 to 0-11 lead, but their Ulster counterparts raced out of the traps for the second-half.

It began with Stephen O’Hanlon squaring the sides with neat point and back-to-back two-pointers from the trusty booth of ‘keeper Beggan pushing Monaghan three ahead before skipper Bannigan landed a two-pointer of his own in the 43rd minute.

Davy Burke’s men stopped the rot with a Diarmuid Murtagh free and the same player sending over a two-pointer of his own in the 47th minute.

The Rossies wouldn’t be able to close the gap though and, after pointing four minutes into his introduction, McCarron was on hand to net the decider’s only goal from close range in the 61st minute to leave Gabriel Bannigan’s men with one hand on the trophy.

The Connacht side saw a few chances sail wide after that, which suited Micheal Bannigan and Beggan to add on more scores which served to up the Farney lead into double figures before the final whistle sounded.


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