Monaghan 3-23

Wexford 1-11

Monaghan put their surprise Ulster semi-final loss to Down behind them to hammer Seamus McEnaney's Wexford in a one-sided All-Ireland SFC Round 2B qualifier clash at Innovate Wexford Park.

The gulf between Division 1 and 4 was clear for all to see as Malachy O'Rourke's men ran riot in the sunny South-East. Fintan Kelly, Karl O'Connell and Kieran Duffy all raised green flags as they made light of Conor McManus' first half black card to win by 18 points in front of an attendance of 3,501. Kelly and Wexford's Ciaran Lyng were sent off for two yellow card offences in the second half.

Wexford actually finished the game with just 12 players after Adrian Flynn was black-carded after they had used all of their six substitutes, while one of those subs, John Leacy, was shown a straight red on 70 minutes.

The game pitted 'Banty' McEnaney against his native county who he managed between 2005 and 2010, but there was no room for sentiment as Monaghan made sure there would be no repeat of their shock defeat to Longford at the same stage last year. Showing four changes from the Down game, they dominated the first half to take a 2-10 to 0-5 lead into the interval. Jack McCarron had a hand in both first half goals which were finished by Kelly and midfielder O'Connell in the seventh and 26th minutes respectively.

The hosts were given hope when Ben Brosnan netted shortly after the restart, but the result was never in doubt with Kieran Duffy's third goal making sure of the Farney County's place in Monday morning's Round 3B qualifier draw.

The winners had no fewer than 14 different scorers, with Duffy (1-1), Conor McCarthy (0-4), McCarron and Kieran Hughes (0-3 each) leading the charge.

Monaghan - R Beggan; F Kelly (1-0), D Wylie, R Wylie; C Walshe (0-1), D Mone, N McAdam; K Hughes (0-2), K O'Connell (1-0); S Carey (0-3), G Doogan (0-2), O Duffy (0-1); D Malone (0-1), J McCarron (0-3, 1f), C McManus (0-1). Subs: D Freeman (0-3) for C McManus (BC), K Duffy (1-1) for D Wylie, C McCarthy (0-4, 2f) for S Carey, T Kerr for J McCarron, D Hughes for K Hughes, D Ward (0-1) for K O'Connell.

Wexford - S Roche; B Malone, J Rossiter, M Furlong; E Nolan, J Wadding, T Rossiter; D Waters, N Rossiter; K O'Grady, J Firman, A Flynn (0-1); C Lyng (0-3f), C Carty, PJ Banville (0-2, 1f). Subs: B Brosnan (1-5, 0-3f, 0-1'45) for E Nolan (BC), M Dwyer for C Carty, J Tubritt for J Firman, J Leacy for J Wadding, C Kehoe for T Rossiter, P Curtis for C Kehoe, A Flynn (BC).

Referee - C Lane.

Tweet

Most Read Stories