Fixtures: Friday, May 25: RFC O’Duffy Cup v Magheracloone (Home) at 7.45pm

Saturday, May 26: U-15 FL Division Five v Éire Óg (Home) at 1pm; Ulster U-15 Brian McLernon Cup: Monaghan v Tyrone at Gavan Duffy Park at 11.15am

Sunday, May 27: SFL v Castleblayney (Away) at 3pm

Monday, May 28: U-13 HL v Clontibret (Away) at 7.30pm

Wednesday, May 30: U-13 FC Division One v Castleblayney (Away) at 7.30pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 3, 9, 19 and 27. Jackpot of €2,100 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Mairéad White c/o Ashley White; €40 Erin Kelly c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 F O’Connor c/o Paudge Connolly; €40 Kevin Smyth c/o Brian O’Sullivan (Hurling Club). Jackpot for Sunday, May 27 is €2,200 and Gráinne and Owen Connell are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in our clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. Thanks to everyone for their support for our Lotto, which plays a critical role in our club’s funding. We ask all club members to continue to promote our Lotto as much as possible.

Hugh Coyle: We were delighted to host a 60^th birthday party for our own Hugh Coyle in the clubhouse last Friday night. Some of Hugh’s family members and many of his friends joined us on the night, where we presented ‘Mr. Harps’ with a special personalised jacket, a specially-made card and certificate from the club, giving Hugh his own seat in our stand at Gavan Duffy Park. We also donated money to two causes close to Hugh’s heart: Monaghan Arch Club and Monaghan Special Olympics, who will be sending 16 athletes to the National Games in Dublin next month. Harps Chairman Jimmy Croarkin told the big crowd present about the regard all in the club has for Hugh, who then thanked everyone for attending. Thanks to all the club members involved in organising this great night, especially to Pádraig and Karin Callan and well done must go to Karin for the fantastic cake!

 

Golf Classic: The 2018 Monaghan Harps GAA Club Golf Classic, sponsored by Soleire Electrical, will take place Rossmore Golf Club on Friday, June 8. To enter a team costs €200 and tee and green sponsorships are available at €100 each. Contact Fergus Coyle (086 8502015), Harry Dwyer (086 2400120), John Hahessy (086 1251615), Séamus McManus (086 8167928) or Kevin Treanor (086 2591411) for more information.

 

Sponsor a Seat: To celebrate and promote the continued development of our facilities at Gavan Duffy Park, we are offering the unique opportunity to sponsor/dedicate a seat in our stand at a cost of €50. See our club website (monaghanharps.gaa.ie) or contact Club Secretary Val Forde (secretary.monaghanharps.monaghan@gaa.ie) or any committee member for more details. Please note that the deadline for sponsoring a seat is June 23.

 

Seniors: We were edged out at home to Inniskeen in the Shoe City Senior Football League last Friday. We led narrowly for much of the first half, with Éimhín Morahan, Liam Hahessy and Thomas Croarkin on target, but Inniskeen rallied to lead by 0-7 to 0-6 at the interval. Éimhín, Conor Galligan, Aodhán Óg McAnespie, Dylan McKenna and Gary White kicked points in the second half, but we fell just short in the end on a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-15. We are away to Castleblayney in the SFL this Sunday at 3pm. All support welcome.

Team and scorers: Emmett McArdle; Gareth Treanor, Conor Galligan (0-1), Niall Ward; Thomas Croarkin (0-1), John Mulligan, David Lowry; Nicholas Scott (Capt.), Aodhán Óg McAnespie (0-1); Dylan McKenna (0-1), Éimhín Morahan (0-5, 2f), Niall McManus; Liam Hahessy (0-3, 2f), Gary White (0-1), Francis Lynch.

Subs: Shane Smyth for Treanor (inj., 32 mins), Shane Coyle for McKenna (36), Jamie Shields for Lowry (black card, 38).

 

Reserves: There was also a narrow defeat for a much-changed team in last Wednesday’s Platinum Tanks RFL Division 2B game at home to Clones. A team featuring four minors and several players making their first appearances at this level this year trailed by 1-11 to 0-6 at half-time, but a spirited second-half effort took us close to getting a result. With goal-scorer Conor McCrystal among seven players on the mark, we fell just short on a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-15.

Team and scorers: Dylan McAree; Conor McCarron, Turlough Clerkin, David Leane; Brendan McQuaid, Conor Forde (Capt., 0-2), Nathan O’Donoghue (0-2, 1f); Niall Ward, Niall McManus; Colm Shalvey (0-2), Jason McHugh (0-2), Conor McCrystal (1-1); Seán Conway, Ben Kearns-Flynn (0-3, 1 ’45), Dessie McGarry (0-1).

Sub: Evan Doherty for Conway.

We host Magheracloone in the O’Duffy Cup championship quarter-finals this evening (Friday) at 7.45pm.

 

U-15: Our U-15 Division One team were pipped away to Magheracloone last Thursday. We got off to a flying start, with points from Tiarnán O’Rourke and Ben Myers, followed by goals from Jamie Coyle and Ben, putting us ahead. Scores from Shay Cooney and Kevin Moran helped us stretch our lead, but the game turned in the space of a few minutes before half-time when Magheracloone rallied strongly to cut our lead to the minimum: 3-7 to 3-6. Shay, Jake Power and Josh Kelly were on target in the second half, but Magheracloone grabbed another brace of goals to end up on the right side of a high-scoring game: 5-12 to 3-14.

Team and scorers: Karol Parszywka; Jake McConnon, James Curley, Jordan Crampton; Gary Devlin, Tiarnán O’Rourke (0-1), Mark McManus; Daragh Croarkin, Kevin Moran (0-1); Jake Power (0-3), Liam Conway (Capt.), Jamie Coyle (1-0); Josh Kelly (0-1), Ben Myers (2-2), Shay Cooney (0-6, 3f).

Subs used: Luke McManus, Shea Swift, Josh Lavery, Dylan McClave.

The U-15 Division Five game is at home to Éire Óg this Saturday at 1pm.

 

U-13: Our U-13 Division One team won well away to Clones on Tuesday evening, while next up is an away game against Castleblayney in the championship next Wednesday at 7.15pm.

 

County: Well done to Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh, Lochlainn Power, Neil McAdam and the county minor and senior footballers on their great wins in last Sunday’s Ulster championship double-header in Omagh. Good luck to the county U-15s (with five Harps players involved), who take on Tyrone at Gavan Duffy Park this Saturday at 11.15am.

 

Membership: Registration fees for 2018 are now overdue and can be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor or in the clubhouse. Fees are €20 for players up to and including U-11; €30 for all other players and members and €60 for a family membership. Please note that all players must be paid-up members to be insured for 2018.

 

Dates to remember: The Ladies Club’s Abbey Fanning Tournament is scheduled for June 9. Our 2018 Golf Classic is on Friday, June 8. Our annual street collection is set for June 15 and 16, with our Family Fun Day and Mick Farrell Tournament pencilled in for August 18 and 25, respectively. The Kellogg’s Cúl Camp returns to Gavan Duffy Park from July 9-13, with our own Summer Camp scheduled for August 20-24.

 

Notes: Anyone who has news for inclusion in the club notes can send an email to pro.monaghanharps.monaghan@gaa.ie by Tuesday morning.

 

Gavan Duffy Park: The Monaghan Harps clubhouse is available to book for functions. Contact Jimmy Croarkin on 087 1249635 or Pádraig Callan on 087 2543511 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience.

 

Hurling:

 

U-13: We next host Clontibret in round three of the league on Monday, May 28 at 7.30pm. Training continues every Sunday in Rooskey between 12 noon and 1.30pm.