All-Ireland Football Championship Group Stage Round Two: Clare 1-18 – Monaghan 1-23
A valiant Clare effort just fell short in Clones as a late scoring flurry from the hots would ultimately prove decisive.
A Banner outfit seemingly hamstrung without the presence of Captain Eoin Cleary hit the ground running, with late introductions to the starting side Darragh Bohannon & Mark McInerney both finding their range to see Clare lead by 0-03 to 0-01 inside four minutes.
Led by the scoring prowess of Keelan Sexton & Emmet McMahon, Clare looked to be on course for a famous victory in Ulster, when Aaron Griffin set up Darragh Bohannon for a simple finish to the back of Rory Beggan’s net to carve out a 1-11 to 0-13 advantage midway through the second half.
However the division one side were determined to hold their ground on home soil as a late Conor McCarthy goal on 69 minutes put four between the teams and ensured the win for Monaghan.
Colm Collin’s men will face Derry in their final group fixture at a neutral venue on the weekend of June 17th, where nothing less than a win will do to keep any hopes of progressing to a preliminary All-Ireland Quarter Final alive.
