Relegation to Division 2 far from the end of the world

After 10 years defying the odds, Monaghan went down swinging in Omagh last Saturday night.

While they've shipped a few hammerings in this campaign, not helped by being down so many key bodies, it was fitting to see them rallying so strongly in the closing stages and almost pulling off another great escape.

And let's be clear, they had plenty of chances to nab the victory in the final quarter.

For all that this has been a testing league for Vinny Corey's side, a win would more than likely have kept them in the top tier for another year, with Tyrone needing a result against a fairly rampant looking Dublin next weekend.

You could argue the second half was the closest we got to seeing the true Monaghan. Conor McManus hadn't seen any league action until the second half against Galway. I thought he was absolutely sensational at the weekend. Watching the comeback from seven points to one point down, it felt like a cometh-the-hour, cometh-the-man display.

Padraig Hampsey is one of the top defenders in the country but McManus roasted him in the second half. Pretty good for a guy who's supposed to have been on the cusp of retirement for a couple of years now.

Their problems, oddly enough, have related to the other end of the pitch. They've conceded more goals than any team across the four divisions, including Fermanagh who managed to let in six in one game.

You'd feel for Jack McCarron at the death. He was very lively and influential throughout the second half but that moment where he failed to pick up the ball near the Tyrone end-line would make you wince. The fact that he face-planted afterwards really completed the scene. I think that was finally the moment when Monaghan realised they were going down.

Whether it's the great disaster