ALL-IRELAND QUALIFIERS ROUND 1
Monaghan 1-10
Fermanagh 1-6
Fermanagh finished down to 12 men as Monaghan booked their place in the second round of the qualifiers.
The visitors battled every inch of the way, but in the end the Farney men managed to just about edge their way through, although it wasn’t until well into injury time before they could be sure of their victory.
Fermanagh got a dream start with Ryan Lyons banging home a goal, following that up quickly with a free. It took Monaghan four minutes to get going, Niall Kearns opening the hosts account. Fermanagh answered that with a point from Danny Teague, but after that it was all Monaghan. Scores from Ryan McAnespie, Kieran Hughes (2), Rory Beggan and Vinny Corey sent Malachy O’Rourke’s men leading at the break by 0-6 to 1-2.
In the second half it was a case of Fermanagh hanging in there. Monaghan chipped away at the scores to be 0-9 to 1-3 ahead going into the final 20 minutes. Fermanagh got a lifeline at that point with Conall Jones being fouled for a penalty, but although Sean Quigley connected beautifully, Rory Beggan made an exceptional save. Quigley landed the 45, but Fermanagh suffered the first of three dismissals when Lee Cullen saw red.
Fermanagh rose to the challenge well though and Ciaran Corrigan pointed on 64 minutes to leave just a point with them. Sean Quigley went wide with a potential leveling score, but Conor McCarthy netted four minutes into added time to kill the tie. The dismissals of Paul McCusker and James McMahon added late insult to the injury.
The second-round qualifier draw takes place on Monday morning. It will be broadcast live on Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1 just after 8.30am. The draw involves the eight winners from Round 1 (Bowl 1), who will be drawn against the eight teams defeated in the Provincial semi-finals (Bowl 2). A separate draw will be made for home advantage. The fixture details will be confirmed by the CCCC on Tuesday afternoon.
Down/Tipperary
Carlow/Longford
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