Derry 3-12 0-17 Monaghan
Derry have proven that their emphatic victory over Tyrone a couple of weeks ago was no fluke as they have just beaten Monaghan in an equally impressive fashion.
The Oakleafers have officially booked their place in the Ulster final, where they will meet Donegal; a repeat of the last Ulster final that Derry were in, which stretches back to 2011.
Strangely, the current Derry manager Rory Gallagher was on the sideline that day too, but he was on the Donegal side, assisting Jim McGuinness in winning the Anglo-Celt Cup that year.
Now he is very much the man in charge, and is always entertaining to see on the sideline, sprinting up and down, constantly roaring, and forever spitting in his hands for some reason.
When Gareth McKinless swivelled and swerved through the Monaghan defence before bursting the net in the first half, the cameras panned to the managers, and unsurprisingly, Gallagher was in fits of exuberance.
The former St Galls player was celebrating fanatically, chucking his water bottle to the ground, and screaming with every ounce of his might.
It’s so unusual to see a manager show such passion and visible enjoyment during the match, but no one can argue that it isn’t hugely entertaining.
The first half totally belonged to Derry as they ripped into the Farney men. Chrissy McKaigue was tasked with keeping Jack McCarron quiet and he done so very successfully.
Just look at Rory Gallagher's reaction to Derry's first goal 😳 pic.twitter.com/X2pOvH67fV
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) May 15, 2022
Shane McGuigan was in fine form kicking two fine scores from play, and Ethan Doherty was fantastic in running the ball out of defence and into the forwards.
Before the half time whistle went, goalkeeper Odhrán Lynch ran the ball to the half way line and launched it beautifully into Niall Toner, who then put it on a plate for Benny Heron to get their second goal of the game.
The second half was a completely different story as Monaghan came out like men possessed, and started chipping away at the scoreboard, with Conor McManus getting increasingly involved alongside McCarron.
The game really started to open up and other than a wonder solo run by Emmet Bradley, the Oakleaf county really struggled to get points on the board.
Niall Loughlin had to come off when he was struck by the dreaded hamstring sniper, and consecutive free kicks from Monaghan brought the game to just a three-point difference in the last 15 minutes.
All the momentum was with the Farney county, but there was just no way they could keep up their relentless tempo that got them back into the match.
Benny Heron bagged his second goal with ten minutes to go, and that meant curtains for Banty’s hopes of leading his team into another Ulster final.
Rory Gallagher has now led three different teams to an Ulster final, and in case you can’t tell, we think he’s pretty happy about it.
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