FARNEY RIP UP SCRIPT TO SHOW SAM REAL CLASS

Down rattle Monaghan but Bannigan's boys finish with aplomb

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IN BOXING, they call these types of matches crosso-ver fights.

Often they are deemed set-ups, promoters carefully handpicking an ageing opponent for an up-and-comer to enhance his reputation.

And that's what this appeared to be — a team with notions taking the scalp of a side whose reputation was established long ago.

Except Monaghan had read a different script.

They arrived at the same crossroads as Down and chose the right path, while the Mourne men retreated into a series of cul de sacs.

You wouldn't have thought that after 43 minutes, a moment in the game when Down had built a four-point lead and had all the momentum at their backs.

“We had two attacks and didn't get any scores from those,” lamented their manager, Conor Laverty, afterwards.

“And then we had our hands on the ball again, and we gave it away, and they then got crucial scores from our mistakes at that time.”

They certainly did, Monaghan outscoring Down 1-11 to 0-6 in the closing 27 minutes, a period when the difference in experience told.

“Yes, certainly we benefited from the fact we have been in so many big games,” said their manager, Gabriel Bannigan, afterwards.

“Little things, like choosing when to shoot or when to pass, those decisions come from experience.

“We have been in an All-Ireland semi-final; we got to the last 12 last year. These things help. No question they did.”

And it showed on the scoreboard. A game which ebbed and flowed for 45 minutes instantly became one-sided, Down pressing the panic button; the second Monaghan goal coming from a turnover and also from the absence of any Down defenders to assist their young keeper, Ronan Burns, after he made a superb save from Conor McCarthy.