WON WAY TRAFFIC

Dubs sharpshooters find their range at HQ as Farn legion go AWOL on big stage

DUBLIN 1-19 MONAGHAN 0-12

IT WAS almost a relief that Stephen Cluxton got to mark his record Championship appearance with a save at Croke Park last night.

Such was Dublin’s dominance of this quarter-final that the citizens of Hill 16 were grateful for the opportunity to pay tribute to the Parnells legend when he pushed away Jack Mccarron’s 47th minute shot.

Not that it mattered one way or another in a game that was almost exclusively one-way traffic – another Croker stroll for the All-ireland champions, who now face Tyrone in the last four.

The celebrated goalkeeper – now 89 Championship games not out was clearly determined not to concede a goal on this special occasion, as he also denied Owen Duffy late on.

In reality Dublin were in cruise control as they brushed aside a very poor Monaghan challenge.

Cluxton’s milestone aside, the most significant thing about the 70 minutes may be the return of Johnny Cooper, Paul Flynn and Michael Darragh Macauley – the latter pair off the bench and for the first time this year.

When the sides last met in the championship three years ago, the men from the capital waltzed to a 17-point victory.

A promising Division One campaign suggested that the gap could be significantly closer this time. That campaign included a classic Clones encounter against the Dubs that required a last minute Jack Mccaffrey goal to win it for the visitors.

But despite the morale boost for the Farney men of last weekend’s victory over Down at Headquarters, it was a very different story when the sides met yesterday. Monaghan had to avoid conceding frees within conversion distance of Dean Rock but of course that’s easier said than done when faced with this particular blue wave. By the end of the first half Rock – an early black card casualty in the Leinster final against Kildare – had notched up five points from frees and the Dubs had built an eightpoint lead. Yet also by that stage four of Dublin’s forwards had made their mark on the scoreboard in an impressive showing, with Con O’callaghan also seeing a 20th minute shot at goal saved by Rory Beggan before Paddy Andrews mis-kicked the rebound. After his magnificent showing in the Leinster decider, when he scored 12 points, O’callaghan found the going tougher this time and it took him until the 24th minute to register his first – and only – score. Malachy O’rourke’s side had to avoid long kick-outs to have any chance but instead played right into Brian Fenton’s hands in midfield. Behind Fenton, the tenacious Johnny Cooper back after missing the Leinster final through injury – and Cian O’sullivan mopped up everything Monaghan’s patchy forward line could muster. It summed up a frustrating evening’s work for Conor Mcmanus, the Farney men’s biggest threat, that he was booked in the 26th minute for taking a swipe at Cooper when the Dublin defender had tackled him late.

After his exploits last Saturday, Jack Mccarron was a late inclusion as a starter in Monaghan’s full-forward line. But it was Conor Mccarthy, his partner in crime off the bench against Down, who made a bigger impact when he was introduced here, this time just before half-time.

Mccarthy kicked two early second half points to rouse the Monaghan support, and three in total, which won’t please Cooper.

But in the 40th minute the Hill finally came alive when Andrews found Rock, who fisted home the game’s only goal.

Bernard Brogan was introduced for Eric Lowndes moments later but, surprisingly, he missed two good goal chances.

Again, not that it mattered.