Monaghan kept alive hopes of advancing from the Sam Maguire group stages as they saw off a courageous Clare by five points in an end-to-end encounter. 

Under a fine summer’s sunlight, Darren O’Neill opened the scoring before Karl O’Connell, hero of the hour for Monaghan last week, responded in kind.

An instant reply came from a clinical Clare side, Cathal O’Connor and Mark McInerney sending them two points ahead early on.

Conor McCarthy halved the gap for Monaghan before Killian Sexton and McInerney’s second put a three-point buffer between the teams.

That margin widened after Ryan O’Toole’s home point provoked further fine finishing from Clare, Emmet McMahon on the board followed by Sexton’s sweetly struck second.

From there though, as the half seesawed, Monaghan wrested back momentum, Michael Bannigan and Jack McCarron bringing them up to five points. 

O’Connor replied for Clare but Monaghan, buoyed by a fine atmosphere at St Tiernach’s Park, thundered into the lead with four unanswered points.  A McCarron brace sandwiched by O’Connell’s second score and Karl Gallagher nudged them into a nervy 0-9 to 0-8 advantage.

Which was swiftly wiped by McMahon and Sexton as Clare refused to wilt but a topsy-turvy first thirty-five minutes concluded with Rory Beggan levelling Monaghan at 0-10 apiece.

The second half picked up where the first left off at a thrillingly fast-paced tempo, McCarran and McCarthy putting the hosts ahead 0-12 to 0-10.

McMahon and Bannigan exchanged points, but home pressure was being firmly applied.  Then came a sucker punch, Sexton forcing the ball home from range for the game’s first goal, reacting quickest to the rebound from Aron Griffin’s shot as Clare strode back ahead by a point.

With it on a knife edge, Bannigan levelled with his third, Stephen O’Hanlon striking Monaghan back in front.

Amidst a flurry of scoring, Monaghan kept their noses just about in front, McCarron and Conor McManus keeping cool heads to repel Clare points from McMahon and O’Connor.

McCarron was firing on all cylinders and hit the seven-point landmark just before the hour to keep the home lead at two points, 0-20 to 1-15.

McMahon struck back before McCarron’s eighth, Jamie Malone made it nervy again with a point, but Monaghan then had a moment to relish.

Conor McCarthy tucking home a goal on the counterattack to prompt delirium of relief, a goal that put group progression firmly in Monaghan’s hands.

The sides exchanged two points before the final whistle as Clare, game all day, chased until the last but McCarron’s ninth point was the most notable stat as the curtain closed on a stunning game.

Donegal next weekend is a potential group decider for Monaghan after drawing with Derry, they will though present a formidable challenge and now have confidence to make it.

Clare, despite two losses, played excellently and could yet influence final group standings as they will prove thorny opposition for Derry in their closing Sam Maguire match.