Monaghan beat Armagh in dramatic penalty shoot-out to book place in All-Ireland SFC semi-finals

For the first time ever in the All-Ireland championship two full rounds of a penalty shoot-out were needed to separate the sides.

Seventeen of the 20 penalty kicks were converted but Rory Beggan twice saved from Callum Cumiskey and though Ethan Rafferty stopped Gary Mohan’s first effort he made no mistake from his second in round two.

Everything about the game went down to the wire as having changed the order of their penalty takers in the second round of kicks Cumiskey was the last penalty taker. The pressure on him was extraordinary and Beggan smothered his effort.

Conor McManus, who won a free and then converted it in the seventh minute of injury time at the end of extra time to level the tie converted two penalties as did Jack McCarron, Kieran Hughes, and Michael Bannigan. Armagh’s Rian O’Neill, Shane McPartlan, Oisin Conaty and Rory Grugan also scored two penalties each.

But ultimately it wasn’t enough for Kieran McGeeney side’s who slumped to their third penalty shoot-out loss – and their second in a row in an All-Ireland quarter-final in the last 12 months.

It was no surprise that a penalty shoot-out was required. During the game itself there was never more than one score between the sides.

So, six days after Monaghan qualified for the county’s first ever All-Ireland U-17 final their senior team ended their quarter-final hoodoo to reach the last four in the Sam Maguire series for the first time since 2018.

Monaghan had lost their six previous quarter-final appearances, but all that disappointment was swept away in a sea of emotion in Croke Park.

Sweeter still that it was next door neighbours Armagh they knocked out of the race for the Sam Maguire.

Not even the most optimistic of Monaghan fans could have foreseen their team ending up in the last four of the All-Ireland series on the last Saturday in January when they lost at home to Armagh in the opening round of the Allianz League.

They had a new manager Vinny Corey in place who was working with an aging squad.

Yet again they defied all odds by keeping their place in Division 1 for the tenth successive season navigating their way through the group stages. They had only lost once to Armagh in their last five championship encounters, so they had plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

For Armagh this will go down as another wasted season. Beaten on penalties in the Ulster final their victory over Galway in the group stages ought to have reignited their campaign but this failure will increase the pressure on manager Kieran McGeeney who has been in charge for nine seasons now.

Once again, they had zero luck. They looked to have secured a place in the last four for the first time since 2005 when in the 93rd minute a monster effort from Rian O’Neill gave them the lead.

There was still time for more drama as Monaghan won a free inside the Armagh 65m line. After a long delay due to an Armagh player being treated for an injury Monaghan opted to go short.

It paid a rich dividend. paid dividends. Conor McManus won a free which he converted in the seventh minute of injury time to send a remarkable contest into a penalty shootout.

Aidan Forker opened the scoring after 39 seconds with a wonderful point from range for Armagh, but it wasn’t a foretaste of what was to come. The next three shots all went wide as both sides pulled everybody behind the ball once they surrendered possession.

Scoring chances were at a premium but Conor McCarthy and then Jack McCarron – who had missed his first chance – found pockets of space to kick a brace from distance.

McCarron was a handful for Paddy Burns and when his long-range effort rebounded off the post, Gary Mohan was first to react and fisted the ball over the bar in the 16th minute, two minutes after Rian O’Neill had equalised with his second converted free.

Eighteen minutes elapsed before the first memorable play. Andrew Murnin brilliantly fielded an Ethan Rafterty kick-out. He spotted Rory Beggan 45 metres off his line and kicked it to Greg McCabe. But he fumbled the ball which allowed Beggan time to get back and eventually Conor Boyle executed a wonderful steal on Rory Grugan who received the ball from McCabe.

Three minutes after he scored his second point from play, Gary Mohan was down at the other end to block a goal-bound shot from Stefan Campbell. Though Rian O’Neill missed the subsequent 45, essentially it was his frees which kept Armagh in touch — he converted three and combined with a mark from Andrew Murnin gave Armagh a one-point advantage after 28 minutes.

Monaghan wasted two chances to kick the equalling point before the interval. Frees from either flank from Mohan and Michael Bannigan fell short.

Thus, after a turgid opening half Armagh were 0-6 to 0-5 ahead at the break. Not surprisingly by then a sizeable portion of the official attendance of 57,570 were already on the way home.

Within five minutes of the resumption, Monaghan introduced veteran Conor McManus but Armagh started the half better and again Boyle had to be at his sharpest to repel a couple of promising Armagh attacks.

However, within three minutes of his introduction McManus made a telling contribution with a marvellous free near the Hogan Stand touchline. But straight from the kick-out O’Neill replied with an equally audacious free from near the Cusack Stand touchline.

For the first time in the game Monaghan started to turn the screw on Ethan Rafferty’s re-starts and were rewarded with a brace from Gary Mohan — his third from play — and a McCarron free. But Aidan Forker replied almost immediately with his second long range point of the contest to tie for the eighth time.

With 20 minutes of normal time left Conor McCarthy’s third point of the contest put Monaghan in front. But really there was no separating them as they exchanged points down the final straight. However, the intensity levels increased several notches with both defences creaked under the relentless pressure.

Stefan Campbell set up Armagh substitute Conor Turbitt for a goal chance but Beggan saved at the expense of a 45, which O’Neill.

At the other end a magnificent fetch from Darren Hughes set up an opportunity for Michael Bannigan but his rasping shot cleared the crossbar.

It was 0-11 each before Conor McManus gave Monaghan back the lead with five minutes left. Eight minutes after he was introduced Armagh withdrew Jemar Hall who appeared to be suffering from an eye injury. It was almost inevitable that Armagh would equalise.

A long delivery from Aidan Forker was tipped over by Murnin in the 70th minute.

Monaghan substitute Sean Jones was black carded for a trip on Stefan Campbell in the first minute of the three minutes of injury-time and Armagh attempted to play keep ball before creating an opportunity to score the winning point.

At the death an Ethan Rafferty pass put Conor Turbitt into space, but he was flattened immediately by a shoulder. In some circumstances the referee might have awarded a free. But Conor Lane was unsighted and by the time Turbitt recovered time was up. For the second year in a row Armagh were involved in extra time in an All-Ireland quarter-final.

They had an extra man for the first seven minutes of extra time, and though they immediately took the lead through Ross McQuillan they then retreated into their own half and allowed Monaghan uncontested possession. When they did break free Rory Grugan and Shane McPartlan hit two poor wides.

Just as Jones rejoined the action Conor McManus converted a free to level the game for the 13th time. Armagh had squandered a golden opportunity as the teams completed the first half of extra time level — 0-13 each.

Only one score for each side was pointed in the second period of extra time, O’Neill scoring the last for Armagh after a frantic trading of possession between sides happy to hand-pass the ball and play for enough time to deny the opposition time to score. But Monaghan got their late chance to level the game again, a free by McManus put straight between the posts.

After a dramatic sudden death penalty shoot-out, Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan saved Armagh’s tenth penalty to prevail.

Scorers – Armagh: R O’Neill 0-6 (4f, 145), A Murnin 0-3 (1m), A Forker, R Grugan (1f) 0-2 each, R McQuillan 0-1. Monaghan: C McManus 0-4 (3f) C McCarthy, G Mohan 0-3 each, J McCarron 0-2 (1f), M Bannigan 0-2.

Armagh: E Raftery; P Burns, A McKay, A Forker; C O’Neill, G McCabe, J Burns; R O’Neill, B Crealey; C Mackin, S Campbell, J McElroy; R Grugan, A Murnin, J Duffy. Subs: C Turbitt for Crealey 45m, C Cumiskey for McCabe (50m), J Hall for Duffy 53m, S Jones for McCarron 55m, R McQuillan for Hall 66m, S McPartlan for McElroy 69m. Subs in ET: B McCambridge for Forker 75m, J Kieran for Burns 80m, O Conaty for Campbell 90.

Monaghan: R Beggan; K Lavelle, K Duffy, R Wylie; K O’Connell, C Boyle, C McCarthy; G Mohan, D Hughes, S O’Hanlon, M Bannigan, D Ward, J McCarron, K Gallagher, R McAnespie. Subs: C McManus for Gallagher 40m; R O’Toole for Lavelle 53m, S Carey for McAnespie 60m, K Hughes for Ward 68m. Subs in ET: K Lavelle for S Carey, Lennon for Boyle 80, S Carey for McCarthy 80, J McCarron for O’Connell 85, O’Connell for O’Hanlon 89.

Referee: C Lane (Cork).