Monaghan taste final glory at first time of asking as fifth tier enjoys barnstorming final

It was a case of another day, another thrilling hurling showdown in Croke Park this afternoon, as Monaghan opened up a treble header of national finals with a heart-stopping and historic success over Lancashire in the Lory Meagher final.

The Farney County had never contested a senior final before but they did come into this tie as the clear favourites, in no small part because of how they bounced back from taking one point from their first two games in this year's competition to winning three on the spin, including a seven-point victory over this afternoon’s opponents.

They continued along the same vein here in the early stages, tacking over six points in the first 10 minutes to take an early 0-06 to 0-02 lead, hinting at a comfortable win for Arthur Hughes’ men.

Conor Gernon, Ethan Flynn and Stephen Lambe all put their names on the scoresheet in that opening run, but the sport of hurling has been the gift that keeps on giving in recent weeks, and regardless of levels, it seems that every game quickly turns into an over-and-back battle that culminates in a dramatic finish.

Once Robin Spencer made a stunning catch to pluck Conor Madden's delivery from the clouds and then stitch the sliotar to the corner of the net to wipe away the bulk of that fast start, this contest always looked like it was heading the same way.

Monaghan settled again with two points but they always looked vulnerable at the back, and survived a few close scrapes before Darragh Carroll’s first time ground pull off Ray McCormick’s break nudged them into their first lead of the game.

Lancashire grew into the game from here, inspired by some excellent work across the half-back line where Shane Nugent, Cormac Kenny and Finn Henry was all very impressive.

A clever