Tyrone defeat sees Monaghan fall through Division 1 trap door

The masters of the great escape ran out of road as Monaghan were relegated to Division Two of the Allianz League after a decade at the top level.

Only Kerry have spent longer in the premier grade, but a proud era for one of Ireland's smallest counties ended at O’Neills Healy Park, where Tyrone condemned their Ulster neighbours to the drop.

In each of the last five seasons, the Farney men had avoided relegation on the last day of the league campaign in dramatic fashion, but this time they didn’t get as far as the final round with a fighting chance, gone with a game to spare.

A campaign that started so brightly with victory over Dublin quickly spiralled downwards, and they haven’t picked up a single point since the opening day.

The stakes were high in Omagh, with Tyrone also needing a to win a tense Ulster derby to ease their own relegation concerns, and the relief for them was palpable.

Tyrone started brightly on a greasy surface that had to go through a late pitch inspection, racing into a three points lead, through Darren McCurry, Darragh Canavan and Kieran McGeary, but they were undone by a counter-attack that saw Micheal Bannigan tee up a goal for Jack McCarron, finished low and accurately to the net on five minutes.

The wind-assisted Red Hands were shaky and nervous, looking vulnerable to the break from deep, and survived another Bannigan effort that smacked off a post.

McCurry nudged them two ahead, and a long range Ben Cullen effort cancelled out a Bannigan score.

The Farney were content to soak up the pressure, even when it meant conceding, confident they could respond on the break, with Conor McManus keeping them to within two points at the end of the opening quarter.

Another veteran, Darren Hughes, battled for possession