Tyrone 0-18
Monaghan 0-14
In the end it took four points and three red cards to separate the two Ulster sides this afternoon in Croke Park, as Tyrone advanced to the All-Ireland football semi-final at the expense of Monaghan.
The Ulster champions arrived into the quarter-final, as they did for the last two years, with understandably high hopes.
And once again, those hopes were quickly dashed.
In the closing stages the frustration finally boiled over into aggression and the Monaghan pair of Darren Hughes and Paul Finlay were both given their marching orders, as well as Tyrone’s Ronan McNamee.
The game began with some urgency, the sides level at 0-2 after the first five minutes and even the neutral was hoping they would be treated to a nip and tuck affair.
It was Tyrone who began to ease in front, points from Connor McAliskey and Peter Harte giving the Red Hand a three-point lead coming up to the 25-minute mark.
McNamee was impressive in his marking of Monaghan talisman, Conor McManus, and restricted the forward to 0-7 for the afternoon.
Heading in at the interval Tyrone lead by two points but it was after the restart that Mickey Harte’s men began to pull away.
Tyrone hit three points without reply and began to construct a five point lead they refused to relinquish.
The red cards sullied the afternoon in all honesty, but the game looked over after 10 minutes of the second half.
Monaghan can have no one to blame but themselves, controlling the game against Donegal in the Ulster final, only to bow out against Tyrone with no more a whimper than a roar.
Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Aidan McCrory, Ronan McNamee, Cathal McCarron; Ronan McNabb, Joe McMahon Peter Harte; Colm Cavanagh, Mattie Donnelly; Tiernan McCann, Mark Bradley, Conor Meyler; Darren McCurry, Sean Cavanagh, Connor McAliskey
Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Colin Walshe, Vinny Corey, Ryan Wylie;Dessie Mone, Neil McAdam, Karl O’Connell; Owen Lennon, Fintan Kelly; Kieran Duffy, Darren Hughes, Stephen Gollogly; Ryan McAnespie, Kieran Hughes, Conor McManus
Scorers for Tyrone: Darren McCurry 0-6 (0-3f, 0-1 ’45), Conor McAliskey 0-5 (0-4f), Mattie Donnelly 0-2, Ronan McNamee, Ronan McNabb, Joe McMahon, Peter Harte, Sean Cavanagh 0-1 each.
Scorers for Monaghan: Conor McManus 0-7 (0-5f), Owen Duffy 0-2, Dick Clerkin, Paul Finlay (0-1f), Dessie Mone, Kieran Hughes, Fintan Kelly 0-1 each.
Substitutes for Tyrone: 23. Justin McMahon for Joe McMahon (8); 22. Conall McCann for Meyler (black card (23); 24. Padraig McNulty for Conall McCann (45); 25. Ronan O’Neill for McAliskey (58); 20. Richie Donnelly for Bradley (68)
Substitutes for Monaghan: 20. Dick Clerkin for Lennon (half-time); 17. Drew Wylie for Corey (half-time);12. Owen Duffy for McAnespie (half-time);13. Dermot Malone for McAdam (49);21. Paul Finlay for Gollogly (52);26. Christopher McGuinness for Kieran Duffy (60)
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