SHAMROCK CUP U21 TOURNAMENT

Monaghan 0-16, Louth 2-9. 

Monaghan made a winning start to the 2016 Shamrock Cup when they edged past Louth by the minimum margin in this free-flowing and entertaining contest that was played in difficult, windy conditions at Darver. Monaghan led at half-time by 0-10 to 1-4, Adam Treanor with the bulk of the Monaghan points while Darragh Lafferty found the Monaghan net for the home side. Turning to play against they near gale force wind in the second half Monaghan worked hard to retain possession and caught Louth on a number of counter attacks that always gave them a slight advantage. Going into the final 10 minutes Monaghan were six points in front having registered five unanswered points between the sixth and 20th minutes but Louth finished strongly to pull back an unanswered 1-2, all by livewire corner forward Cian Doyle, one of the points from a free and the goal from a penalty, after Doyle himself had been brought down, to leave one between them at the finish.

Teams and Scorers: Monaghan: C Forde 0-1 (f), A Kieran, K Loughran,. B Kerr, J Beattie, J Mealiff, M Murnaghan, N Loughman, J Walshe, D Meegan 0-1, M O’Dowd 0-2, A Curran, A Treanor 0-8 (2f), B McBennett, F Maguire. Subs: A Jones 0-1 for J Beattie, C McAnenley 0-1 for B McBennett, M McCarville for A Jones.

Louth: N Carey, C Lenihan, R Lynch, H Osborne, C Faulkner, C Reilly, J Clutterbuck, C Early, M Corcoran, D Hamill, N Sharkey 0-1, A O’Brien, T McEnaney 0-2, D Lafferty 1-0, C Doyle 1-5 (1-0p, 0-4f). Subs: P Kirk for H Osborne, P Matthews 0-1 for A O’Brien, D Maguire for M Corcoran (Black Card), D McConnon for C Faulkner. Referee: C Dourneen (Cavan).