Allianz Football League: Donegal fight back in Galway draw as Monaghan beat Roscommon
- Published
Donegal midfielder Caolan McGonigle battles for possession against Galway
Donegal hauled themselves off the bottom of the Division One league table with a late rally to salvage a 1-9 to 1-9 draw with Galway in Letterkenny.
Galway led by two points with seven minutes to go but the home side fought hard with scores from Oisin Gallen, Conor O'Donnell and Jason McGee.
Paul Conroy narrowly missed a free for Galway with the last kick of the game.
Elsehwere in Division One, Monaghan inflicted a first defeat on Roscommon with a 0-14 to 0-11 win in Clones.
There was a real arm wrestle in Letterkenny, which Donegal bossed for long periods without converting that dominance onto the scoreboard.
They hit 13 wides and dropped two efforts short in the closing stages which looked like costly mistakes when Galway got themselves back into the lead in the 58th minute for the first time since the opening quarter.
Matthew Tierney was outstanding for Galway hitting 1-3, slinging over two superb left-footed scores from the wing to swing momentum in favour of the Tribesmen. Sub Robert Finnerty also scored twice in Galway's improved second-half display.
Donegal had led 1-6 to 1-3 at the break without ever really hitting their stride but they failed to register a single score in the second half until their late rally.
They had the wind in the first half and three times came from behind before hitting the front for the first time through Caolan McGonigle's point after 24 minutes.
From that point on, they enjoyed a good spell with Patton nailing a long-range free before being awarded a penalty when a Galway defender was judged to have thrown the ball off the goalline after Conor O'Donnell's high ball into the square.
Oisin Gallen converted, the ball hitting off Connor Gleeson's left-hand post before bobbling over the line.
That put Donegal 1-5 to 0-3 up but within seconds, Galway pulled a goal back.
Paul Conroy won the kickout and took a mark, drilled the ball in to Patrick Kelly who flicked it into the path of Matthew Tierney.
He had a lot of time to think about it, but he showed good composure keeping his left-footed shot low to beat Patton in an impressive response by the visitors.
Michael Langan, Conor O'Donnell and Eoghan Ban Gallagher were key men in Donegal's running game and while O'Donnell had a few misses, he took advantage of a Galway turnover to tie the scores in the 69th minute.
Galway had tried to play a containment game when leading late on, and Caolan McGonigle's block on Finnerty was just as crucial in Donegal earning a point as Jason McGee thunderous equaliser in the first of five minutes of stoppage time.
Monaghan see off Roscommon
Michael Bannigan's first-half points put daylight between the sides and gave Monaghan a lead they would not relinquish
Jack McCarron starred as Monaghan jumped above their relegation rivals with a crucial three-point win over high-flying Roscommon in Clones.
In a lacklustre first half, the sides cancelled each other out before two points from Michael Bannigan edged the hosts two points clear.
Roscommon, who were top heading into the weekend after three wins from three matches, pegged Monaghan back but McCarron and Bannigan nudged Vinnie Corey's men into a 0-7 to 0-5 lead at the break.
Monaghan moved four clear early in the second half, again aided by the boot of McCarron, but the Clones crowd were relieved when the ball was scrambled off the line when Roscommon broke forward in search of a goal.
The Rossies did move back within two thanks to points from Enda Smith and Niall Kilroy, but Conor McCarthy soon restored the three-point margin before substitute Sean Jones missed a glorious chance to find the net when he fired wide after being played through by the in-form McCarron.
Fortunately for Monaghan the miss mattered little come the end of play as Rory Beggan and McCarron struck, and although Roscommon responded every time Monaghan split the posts they could not break the three-point margin.
Roscommon's cause was not aided by black cards for key forwards Diarmuid Murtagh and Ben O'Carroll, and Monaghan held on for a big win in their bid to avoid the drop to Division Two.
Tyrone's heavy defeat by Mayo on Saturday means the Red Hands are now in last place in Division One as the Ulster quartet prop up the table.
Monaghan's win moves them up to fifth, on four points, narrowly ahead of Armagh and Donegal on three points while Tyrone are rooted to the bottom with a solitary win.