Monaghan bowed out of the All-Ireland SFC following a 0-14 to 0-11 defeat at the hands of Galway in their preliminary quarter-final meeting at Pearse Stadium.
Just one point separated the sides at half-time before a superior second-half display saw Galway emerge victorious.
The sides traded two points each inside the opening 17 minutes; scores from Gary Mohan and Stephen O’Hanlon pushes Monaghan two points clear nine minutes later.
Matthew Tierney halved the deficit on the half-hour mark, Micheal Bannigan restored Monaghan’s two-point lead within 60 seconds.
Galway finished the first half strongly. Padraic Joyce’s men got their noses in front after landing three successive scores.
Rob Finnerty, Matthew Tierney and Paul Conroy registered a point each as Galway led 0-6 to 0-5 at the break.
Jack McCarron levelled the game six minutes into the second half; Paul Conroy restored Galway’s one-point lead two minutes later.
Rob Finnerty made it a two-point game before scores from Jack McCarron and Conor McCarthy saw Monaghan restore parity on 50 minutes.
John Maher pushed Galway two points clear three minutes later before Monaghan almost regained the upper hand on 54 minutes.
Barry McBennett went for goal but saw his effort crash off the crossbar. Galway still led 0-10 to 0-8.
Galway subsequently found another gear. Two points from Robert Finnerty and one from Damien Comer gave the Tribesmen a five-point cushion eight minutes from time.
Stephen O’Hanlon and Liam O’Conghaile traded scores before Monaghan finished the game with two unanswered points.
Conor McManus slotted over two pointed frees in injury time but Galway held on for a narrow victory.
