Football League Division One: Monaghan stun Dubs as Kerry beat Tyrone

Monaghan fought back from six points down to stun Dublin 2-13 to 1-13 in the Football League Division One opener as Tyrone and Cavan both lost.

Dublin led 1-6 to 0-3 helped by Niall Scully's goal but Monaghan regrouped to trail by only two at the interval.

Sub Stephen O'Hanlon's goal saw Monaghan levelling at Clones and Conor McManus' arrival inspired the Farneymen as he set up a Shane Carey goal.

Kerry defeated Tyrone 0-11 to 0-7 as Cavan lost 0-13 to 0-11 in Galway.

Niall Morgan kicked Tyrone's only first-half point as they trailed by four at the interval and the Red Hands never got closer than two in arrears in the second half as free-taker Sean O'Shea kicked six of Kerry's scores.

Cavan led by three points after 24 minutes at Salthill but Galway levelled at 0-5 to 0-5 by half-time and the Tribesmen took control to move into a 0-13 to 0-8 lead and held on despite a late Breffni rally.

Galway punished Cavan's indiscipline in the crucial second period as Mickey Graham's side were reduced to 12 players at one stage following three sin-binnings.

Monaghan's stirring victory repeated their league win over the Dubs last March but that game was effectively a dead rubber in contrast to Sunday's occasion in front of a crowd of just over 8,500 at St Tiernach's Park.

Dublin looked in total control early as they patiently picked off scores - including Scully's early goal after Karl O'Connell misjudged the flight of a high ball into the Monaghan defence.

When Con O'Callaghan kicked two successive points to put the visitors 1-6 to 0-3 ahead after 17 minutes, anything other than a Dublin victory looked inconceivable.

However, Monaghan hit five of the remaining six scores in the first period to cut the margin to two as Jack McCarron's tally was 0-4 by the interval.

Dublin appeared back in the groove after the resumption following points by Dean Rock and O'Callaghan but Monaghan responded with an unanswered scoring blitz of 2-3 in 11 minutes.

Carrickmacross youngster O'Hanlon made a sensational introduction to the contest by soaring to claim a mark on 45 minutes - only to run on and round Dubs keeper Evan Comerford before slotting to the net.

The goal left the sides level but Monaghan's second goal followed three minutes later as another substitute, three-time All-Star McManus, won a high ball and fed O'Hanlon, who then teed up Carey to palm to the net.

There were still 18 minutes of normal time left when McManus extended Monaghan's lead to five but while Dublin outscored the home side 0-4 to 0-1 in the closing stages, Malachy O'Rourke's side held on for a merited victory.

Tyrone finished second best to a highly motivated Kerry side in their Division One opener at Killarney.

In front of a crowd of 12,921 at Fitzgerald Stadium, the Red Hands paid the price for a sluggish first half when their only score was keeper Morgan's 27th-minute free.

With Tyrone twice penalised for playing sideline kicks backwards, the game's first score from play didn't come until Dara Moynihan's 34th-minute point.

Tyrone added a new dimension to their game with the introduction of Kyle Coney for his first league appearance in four years, and he began to spray passes that created openings for the inside men.

Darren McCurry popped over a couple of frees as the Red Hands stepped up their attacking intensity, but in committing more players forward, they left gaps at the back which a wasteful Kerry attack didn't exploit on a number of occasions.

But with O'Shea equally important for his creativity as his finishing, as he sent the impressive Jack Barry in for a point, Kerry were able to maintain at least a two-point gap.

After the Kingdom had repelled intense Red Hand pressure to remain three ahead, which included Tom O'Sullivan intervening to cut out a Cathal McShane goal chance, O'Shea applied the coup de grace in Maurice Fitzgeraldesque fashion by curling over a sideline ball.

Cavan made a losing return to Division One as Mickey Graham's side were punished for indiscipline which saw them reduced to 12 players for a period in the second half.

Despite Galway having a wind advantage in the first period, Cavan led 0-3 to 0-1 and 0-5 to 0-2 before the home side hit the last three scores of the half - including Johnny Heaney's leveller as Breffni keeper Raymond Galligan tipped the Tribesman's goal effort over the bar.

Cillian McDaid's black card saw Galway reduced to 14 players after the restart but Cavan were unable to exploit the man advantage as the home side moved into a one-point lead.

The wheels then fell off the Breffni wagon as Martin Reilly, Killian Brady and Killian Clarke were all black carded in quick succession.

While Galway also had Peter Cooke in the sin-bin during this period, points from Ian Burke and Heaney helped them move 0-12 to 0-8 before a further Shane Walsh score increased the margin to five.

Reilly, Cian Mackey and Conor Madden hit late Cavan points but the goal that they needed never really looked like coming.

SUNDAY'S ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE RESULTS