Allianz Football League: McCarron magic saves Monaghan again in heart-stopping Division One climax
- Published
McCarron was hounded by his team-mates at the final whistle as his last-gasp free saved Monaghan while condemning Dublin to a stint in Division Two
In the moment, it was easy to forget that we'd seen it all before.
Jack McCarron, ball - and Monaghan's fate - in his hands, shaping up for one last kick, one last throw of the dice.
In 2021, it was a trademark dummy and monster score that sent Galway down to Division Two.
Sadly, with Covid restrictions still in place, there were no supporters at Clones to drink in his extra-time heroics against the Tribesmen.
It was a different story against Dublin.
This time, another dead-eyed McCarron kick - the final act of a heart-stopping game against football's fallen giant - was greeted with thunderous acclaim by thousands of Monaghan supporters in the Clones sunshine.
With the Oscars on Sunday night, it felt apt that McCarron produced a display that easily could have been ripped straight from a Hollywood script: the protagonist combining heart, grit and skill to give a gripping story a fitting conclusion.
Last year, McCarron's penchant for eleventh-hour pyrotechnics came at Galway's expense.
This time it was Dublin, who suffered relegation for the first time since 1995 - 15 months after winning an unprecedented sixth straight All-Ireland.
Farrell's Dublin dropped out of Division One following five defeats in seven games
For Dublin, it is another demoralising setback having finally relinquished their vice-like grip on Sam Maguire with an All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Mayo in August.
They arrived in Clones on the back of morale-boosting victories over Tyrone and Donegal, but having started the campaign with four successive defeats - including home losses to Armagh and Mayo - they simply left themselves with too much to do.
When Dublin dropped down a tier in 1995, they somehow managed to land their first All-Ireland title since 1983 later that year. Manager Dessie Farrell, a star of the '95 team, now faces the unenviable task of masterminding something similar.
McCarron returns from appendicitis to light up Clones
On the day, Monaghan were deserved winners, McCarron the chief orchestrator of Dublin's downfall.
Having missed the last two games because of appendicitis, the Currin clubman swiftly marked his return, kicking three scores in an energetic first-half display to help Monaghan lead 1-7 to 0-8 at the break.
But the best was yet to come.
Five minutes into the second half the unmistakeable figure of Gary Mohan - he of the glorious mullet and blood-red mouthguard - was scythed down by the scrambling limbs of Dublin keeper Michael Shiel.
Eyes immediately shot to referee Noel Mooney.
Penalty.
Up stepped McCarron to drill a left-footed shot into the corner.
Having already scored a penalty, McCarron produced a moment of magic when he coolly lobbed Dublin keeper Michael Shiel to put Monaghan 3-10 to 0-13 ahead
That put Monaghan seven points up but when Dean Rock tapped over a free after Ryan Wylie's sending off, Dublin were within striking distance at three points down.
Or so they thought.
Within a minute of Rock's free, Karl O'Connell launched a high ball towards McCarron. Not for the first time, he bested veteran Dublin defender Michael Fitzsimons and looked up to see Shiel off his line.
Some players would go for the percentage play and stick it over the bar, but not McCarron. Not in this kind of form.
Evoking memories of his chip over Dubs keeper Evan Comerford in March 2018, McCarron measured a deft lob to beat Shiel and stretch Monaghan's lead to six points at 3-10 to 0-13.
And when Dublin's James McCarthy was red-carded a few minutes later, McCarron would have been excused for believing his 2-4 tally at that stage was going to get Monaghan over the line.
However, Dublin simply never know when they are beaten, to which Monaghan can attest.
Back in February 2020, Seamus McEnaney's side led Dublin by 10 points at one stage in their league meeting at Croke Park only for the Sky Blues to roar back and earn a 1-15 apiece draw at Croke Park.
And when Rock scored a penalty after Eoin Murchan had been fouled to level the game in the first minute of injury time, some Monaghan fans surely cast their minds back to two years ago.
McCarron didn't play that day in Croke Park, and while free-taking maestro Conor McManus was introduced as a late substitute, he was determined to have the last word at Clones on Sunday.
Seemingly immune to nerves, McCarron kicks the winning point deep into injury time
And so, when Monaghan won a free as the clock ticked into the 75th minute of an absorbing contest, McCarron gathered the ball, stepped back a couple of metres, took a deep breath and sent a buzzer-beater over the bar, prompting a deafening roar from the home supporters, one of whom was former Farney forward Paul Finlay.
"It was a really delightful display of the skills of Gaelic football," Finlay told BBC Sport NI.
"He kicked off the left, he kicked off the right, he kicked an important free at the end and he lobbed the goalkeeper.
"He displayed all what's good about Gaelic football. It was a really special performance."
Monaghan are no strangers to acts of escapology, of course. In addition to the last two years, Colin Walshe's injury-time score secured a relegation-swerving win over Donegal in 2016.
McCarron took centre stage again this year, but given the media blackout as a result of the GPA's expenses stand-off with the GAA, he was not available for post-match comment.
Had he been, he almost certainly would have deflected praise on to his team-mates, and rightly so.
Mohan, Darren Hughes, Conor McCarthy, Kieran Hughes. There were several almighty performances that helped get Monaghan over the line, and with the Ulster Championship just a month away, McEnaney probably wishes he could bottle this Dublin-defying formula.
The post-match scenes - McCarron embracing his father Ray, a former Monaghan player, and mother Patricia - captured the Farney County's elation, but they were not the only Ulstermen toasting to another year in Division One with All-Ireland champions Tyrone and Donegal also securing one-point wins to retain their top-flight status on Sunday.
Having stunned Kerry on their way to winning Sam last year, the Red Hands edged out the Kingdom once again with a first win in Killarney since 2003.
Donegal, meanwhile, had an injury-time hero of their own in Paddy McBrearty, whose late score helped them beat Armagh 1-14 to 1-13.
In stark contrast to the euphoric scenes in Clones, however, a melee broke out following the final whistle in Letterkenny as tempers frayed before their upcoming Ulster Championship clash.
A potentially explosive renewal of acquaintances between those two counties could be a provincial storyline in the coming weeks, but so too could Monaghan's push for a first Ulster Championship since 2015.
And after a captivating league campaign, here's hoping the championship delivers similar levels of excitement.