Bannigan rues lack of chances after All-Ireland exit

Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan said his side not being able to take advantage of the extra player during their All-Ireland quarter-final exit by Louth "makes it all the more devastating". Louth were reduced to 14 men after just seven minutes when midfielder Sean Callaghan was sent off. However, despite scoring a goal in each half, Monaghan could not take advantage of the extra man with the Wee County booking their spot in the final four for the first time since 1957 after the 0-27 to 2-18 win. Bannigan's outfit's All-Ireland exit means there will be no Ulster province in the semi-finals for the first time since 2016. "I suppose it makes it all the more devastating for us that we didn't make good use of that extra man and that's on us," Bannigan said. "We never managed to find a period in the game where we got completely on top, apart from probably the first seven minutes before the red card when we started really well. "After that, I don't know whether we went a little bit casual or a little timid, but the energy levels just didn't seem to be there and we just weren't getting our hands on enough ball, creating enough chances and weren't putting scoring runs together. The game was very tight." Monaghan were without experienced injured goalkeeper Rory Beggan, which handed Under-20s captain Jamie Mooney his senior inter-county debut at Croke Park. Bannigan praised Mooney's performance between the posts but added Beggan was "a massive loss". "Of course it impacted us, there's no point saying it didn't impact us," he responded when asked if the absence of Beggan had an influence on the team. "Jamie is a young lad with plenty of potential and showed up very well in training during the week and his kickout range is very good. He probably didn't get to show that range as well as he could. "Come Friday evening, with the testing that was done with Rory, it just wasn't an option to play him, and we had to get on with it."