Monaghan beat Westmeath to reach All-Ireland quarters
Monaghan had too much for Westmeath in the second half at Clones
- Published
Monaghan blitzed Westmeath in the second half to book their place in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals with a 1-28 to 2-19 win at St Tiernach's Park.
The sides were level at 0-15 to 2-9 at the break after a breathless first half in Clones.
Monaghan hit four two-pointers in the first 35 minutes, with goalkeeper Rory Beggan contributing three of them, but the Leinster champions hit back with goals from Matthew Whittaker and Brandon Kelly.
The Farney men ultimately had too much in the second half against a tiring Westmeath side, with Jack McCarron scoring a goal as they eased to a six-point victory.
Entertaining first half in Clones
Whittaker rifled in Westmeath's first goal on 19 minutes
It was an end-to-end first half, with neither side able to really pull away before being pegged back again.
Westmeath registered the first score of the half before Beggan kicked his first two-point free.
Stephen O'Hanlon and Kelly traded points with Michael McCarville then landing another big two-pointer for the Farney men.
The teams exchanged a few more scores and Monaghan then moved back in front courtesy of Beggan nailing another two-point free.
Their lead did not last long as Westmeath got the first goal of the game with Whittakar's deflected strike nestling in the bottom corner to level the game again on 19 minutes.
Monaghan edged back out in front with three successive scores, a two-pointer from Andrew Woods and two more from McCarron.
But Westmeath fought back and equalised through Kelly, who netted a second goal as he rolled the ball into an empty net.
Beggan raised a third orange flag to swing the game back in Monaghan's favour, but Westmeath worked two more patient scores at the end of the half to send the sides in all square at the break.
Monaghan pull away in second period
McCarron played a key role in Monaghan's win as he registered 1-5
While Westmeath registered the first score of second half, it was Monaghan who quickly took control to pull away.
They got three in a row before the visitors levelled once more with two points coming either side of Ryan O'Toole squandering a huge goal chance for the Farney men as he fired wide after being slipped through.
Monaghan pressed on despite that miss and enjoyed a real purple patch with three more successive points swinging the game firmly in their favour.
The Farney men eventually pushed their advantage out to eight with McCarron rattling in a goal after a big carry from O'Hanlon and another quick flurry of points.
Wallace landed a two-pointer to narrow gap but, with Westmeath tiring, Monaghan took full advantage as Mooney and McCarron added to their healthy lead.
Another two-pointer from Ray Connellan gave Westmeath faint hope, but it was extinguished when Shane Corcoran had an effort tipped over the crossbar by substitute goalkeeper Kian Mulligan as Monaghan saw out the win.