Jack McCarron hit a last-gasp 40-metre free to preserve Monaghan’s Division 1 status at Clones this afternoon.
A draw would have sent Monaghan and Dublin down, but McCarron’s dramatic winner ended up saving his own side and relegating Kildare, who lost in Mayo and finished on five points
McCarron’s winner - part of a stunning 2-6 haul - moved Monaghan on to six points and safety.
It also maintained Monaghan’s proud record of playing Division 1 football every season since 2015, making them the second-longest serving team in the top flight after Kerry.
For Dublin, next year will be the first time since 2008 that they play Division 2 football.
McCarron was the man, repeating his trick of 12 months ago at the same venue, when he kicked the winning score in added time at the end of extra-time to relegate Galway and keep Monaghan up.
The Currin man was exceptional here, hitting 1-3 from play, converting a penalty and nailing three frees.
His other goal was a sumptuous lob over Dublin keeper Michael Shiel with Michael Fitzsimons beaten to a high ball and looking for a free from referee Noel Mooney.
As Dublin went chasing the game late on, McCarron was left in acres of space. One dummy run and he was in.
The sides were 14 on 14 at the time, with Ryan Wylie red carded on 50 minutes for two fouls in quick succession, having been ticked in the first half, and James McCarthy going on a second yellow four minutes later.
McCarthy had been booked after a high tackle having given the ball away. The second yellow was one of a pair given for an off-the-ball incident involving Colin Walshe.
Walshe will be a relieved man that McCarron got Monaghan out of jail at the end.
The Doohamlet man was turned over in the 70th minute with Ciaran Kilkenny playing in Lorcan O’Dell, who sped into the big rectangle and was foulded by Ryan McAnespie.
Dean Rock smashed his penalty to the net to tie up the scores in a real thriller.
McCarron’s winner came after Andrew Woods gathered a long Rory Beggan kickout and Dublin were penalised for holding.
It was a bad day all round for the visitors with Tom Lahiff, Robbie McDaid and substitute Brian O’Leary all going off injured.
The one bright spark was Lee Gannon, who shot two points from play and won frees for two more.
Dublin were cruising early on, going out into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead, but Monaghan, sparked by Sean Jones’ excellent individual goal on 11 minutes, hit 1-6 of the next 1-7.
This left them ahead 1-7 to 0-5 on 24 minutes, with a whirlwind start to the second half capped by McCarron’s penalty goal after big full-forward Gary Mohan was fouled, putting the home side six clear.
Dublin kept fighting but never really got a handle on McCarron.
Rory Beggan and Conor McManus were both eyeing up the late free, but McCarron stepped up to do the business again.
MONAGHAN: R Beggan, R Wylie, C Boyle (0-1), D Wylie, R McAnespie, D Ward, F Kelly, D Hughes (0-1), N Kearns, C McCarthy (0-1), K Hughes (0-2), S Carey (0-1, f), S Jones (1-0) G Mohan (0-1, f), J McCarron (2-6, 1-0pen, 3fs).
Subs: C Walshe for Carey ht, A Woods for Jones (inj) ht, K O’Connell for Kelly 44mins, K Duffy for K Lavelle for D Hughes 64mins, K Duffy for K Hughes 69mins, C McManus for Walshe 73mins.
DUBLIN: M Shiel, M Fitzsimons, D Byrne, J Cooper, E Murchan, J McCarthy, R McDaid, B Fenton, T Lahiff, B Howard (0-1), S Bugler (0-2, 1mk), N Scully, C Costello (0-4, 1m), C Kilkenny, D Rock (1-9, 1-0pen, 0-8fs).
Subs: L Gannon (0-2) for Lahiff (inj) 22mins, C Murphy for McDaid (inj) 29mins, B O’Leary for Scully 57mins, L O’Dell for Costello 64mins, A Wright for O’Leary (inj) 69mins.
REFEREE: N Mooney
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