Firstly on behalf of Monaghan ladies county board, I would like to wish everyone a Peaceful and Happy New Year. Everything has been quiet over the past few weeks but this Sunday sees the senior county girls back in action again when they take on Fermanagh in the Dowd Cup. Monaghan won this competition for the first time last year, and they will be hoping they can repeat that this year. The girls, after a well deserved break ,resumed training on Tuesday evening last. They will be missing a few regulars on Sunday but it will give the management a chance to look at some of the newer players in preparation for the National league which starts at the beginning of February. After their successes in 2011, we wish the team and management the very best of luck in 2012 and lets hope they can go that one step further this year.

This week and next week I will take a look back, month by month on what happened in 2011.

2011 WAS A SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR MONAGHAN LADIES FOOTBALL. HERE WE TAKE A LOOK BACK ON THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

January
Monaghan ladies entered the O Dowd cup for the first time. In their opening game they beat Jordanstown 4-7 1-10. They then went on to beat Tyrone 5-27 to no score thus qualifying for the finals. In the semi final they beat Queens and in the final they had a hard earned win over Jordanstown, beating then by a point. 7 players received college All Stars Edel Corrigan, Sharon Courtney, Christine Reilly, Isobel Kierans, Therese McNally, Catriona Mc Connell and Caoimhe Mohan.
Lavina Connolly was named Senior Ladies Footballer of the Year for 2010
Former All Star Edel Byrne gave birth to a baby girl Katie Elizabeth

February
The girls opened up their National League campaign with a win over Tyrone 2-14 to 0-7. Next up was Mayo and once again the girls came out on top winning by3-13 to 1-8. The last game in February was against Cork and Monaghan their 100% record beating them 1-13 to 2-7.

3 Monaghan girls, Laura Mc Eneaney, Caoimhe Mohan and Barbara Ward received Colleges All Star Awards with Caoimhe captaining the Ulster selection that beat Connacht 4-20 to 3-13

At the county presentation night, the following awards were given:Awards on the Night
U14 County Player of the Year – Leanne Maguire(Magheracloone)
U16 County Player of the Year – Barbara Ward (Carrick/Corduff)
Minor County Player of the Year – Ciara Duffy (Aughnamullen)
Senior County Player of the Year – Lavina Connolly (Latton)

Divisional Players of the Year

Division 1 – Niamh Lynch(Donaghmoyne)
Division 2 – Martina Larmer(Gray) (Scotstown)
Division 3 – Kelsey Maguire (Seans)

Club of the Year  Awards
Junior  – Scotstown
Intermediate – Truagh
Senior – Emyvale

Overall Club of the Year-Truagh

March
Monaghan’s good run in the National league campaign continued beating Kildare 2-15 to 1-7 and then Galway 1-11 to 0-11. Last up was Laois and an excellent game of football saw the Monaghan girls maintain their 100% record winning by a single point Monaghan 2-8  Laois 1-10.

Monaghan Minor team lose out to Down in their opening game in the Ulster league
U14 A team were defeated by a strong Donegal side in their opening Ulster league game and U14 B team were beaten by Antrim in a closely contested game in Belfast 5-4 to 4-10.

Monaghan’s 2 under 14 teams travelled to Cookstown to take part in the Ulster Blitz. In Group 1, the A team came out on top of their group but were beaten by a strong Armagh side in the semi final. The B team won the B Plate Final.

A  number of our players took part in the O Connor Cup weekend in Limerick.Emma and Louise Byrne were part of the Carlow IT team that won the Lynch Cup. Ellen Mc Carron, Aoife Mc Anespie and Ciara Mc Anespie were part of the successful DCU team that won the O Connor cup for the 3rd year in a row. Ciara Mc Anespie won player of the match in the final  and she also recieved a Colleges All Star award . Ellen Mc Carron and Emma Byrne won replacement All Star awards.
Monaghan county board launch their new Sponsorship Draw.

April
Monaghan beat Donegal in their last game of Division one 3-14 to 1-7, finishing top of the table.
Unfortunately they lost out to Laois, their first defeat of 2011, in the semi final 2-11 to 1-10.
St Louis Carrickmacross lose out to Clonmel after extra time in the All Ireland schools final.
U14 A team lose out to Tyrone in the Ulster league but then record their first win of the season with a win over Down.
U14 B team narrowly lose to a strong Derry team 3-12 to 3-10 but then go to record their first win of the season with a good win over Fermanagh.
Minors suffer defeats to Donegal and then Tyrone in the Ulster league’
U16s open their Ulster campaign with a great win over Donegal 6-6 to 2-14.
Emyvale club host the annual Kevin Donnelly Tournament for Minors. Cup winners were Carryduff from Down. Runners Up Truagh.
Shield Winners Emyvale  Runners Up  Aghabog.
Player of the Tournament Aodaoin Early. Player of The Sheild Alana O Donohue

Skull Inn Smithboro win the Sponsorship Draw, thus becoming the new sponsor on the senior ladies jersey for 2011

U16s beat Down in the Ulster championship.

Draw for county club championships took place.

Monaghan were represented on the Ulster interprovincial team by Linda Martin, Edel Corrigan, Sharon Courtney, Grainne Mc Nally, Therese Mc Nally, Amanda Casey, Aoife Mc Anespie, Ciara Mc Anespie. They reached the final where they were beaten by Munster.

Minors finish their campaign with a win over Cavan

Both our A and B teams participate in the All Ireland U14 blitz.

Monaghan senior ladies open their Ulster championship campaign with a 4-16 to 0-4 win over Armagh.

Donaghmoyne win the Abbey Fanning Tournament beating Scotstown in the final. Cora Courtney wins Player of the Tournament. Knockbride win the shield competition beating Magheracloone in the final. Daena Clerkin from Knockbride wins the Shield Player of the Tournament.

Killanny win the U14 Division 2 league beating Inniskeen in the final

Truagh win the U14 Division 3 league beating Tyholland in the final.

Magheracloone win the U14 Division 4 league beating St Brigids in the final.

Monaghan senior ladies followed on from their win over Armagh, with another convincing win over Down 5-12 to 1-5  in the semi final, thus securing them an Ulster final spot.

Club championships get underway in the county.

In the senior championship, Donaghmoyne A beat Truagh A and Emyvale to secure a place in the final. Emyvale A beat Truagh to secure the other final position.

In the junior championship Inniskeen beat Donaghmoyne B, Aughnamullen and Seans to finish top in group A. Donaghmoyne B then went on to beat Seans and Aughnamullen to secure 2nd place and secure them of a semi final spot.Latton beat Emyvale B and Truagh B to top Group 2. Emyvale B beat Truagh B to finish in second position, thus securing for them  the other semi final spot.

Next week we will have a look at what happened in the 2nd half of the 2011 year.