Fixtures: Saturday, September 1: SFC v Carrickmacross in Clontibret at 4.15pm

Sunday, September 2: U-17 FC Division One v Latton (Home) at 11am

Wednesday, September 5: U-13 FL Division One Final v Carrickmacross in Doohamlet at 6.30pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 1, 5, 19 and 26. Jackpot of €3,500 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Lucy Kelly c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 Mary Sherry c/o Brian O’Sullivan (Hurling Club); €40 Tommy Coyle c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 Malachy Toal c/o Séamus Treanor. Jackpot for Sunday, September 2 is €3,600 and Mary McRory, Rose Donnelly and Úna Forde 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.

 

Summer Camp: The fifth year of our in-house Harps Summer Camp brought over 100 boys and girls to Gavan Duffy Park throughout last week. We enjoyed a busy week of football, hurling, handball and music at Gavan Duffy Park. Each participant received Harps goodie bags on Friday, while there was also a welcome return of the ice-cream van! We were also delighted that our county minors Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh and Lochlainn Power were able to bring Ulster silverware for photos with the kids on Friday. Thanks to everyone who had the pitches and club grounds in great condition, to Úna Forde for her work in preparing for the camp and to Conor Forde and all the young coaches involved for a job well done.

 

Gavan Duffy Park: Thanks to all the club members who helped us host several games last week. Gavan Duffy Park hosted a double-header in the McElvaney Waste & Recycling Intermediate Football Championship on Sunday – Currin v Tyholland and Blackhill v Toome – as well as finals between the U-16 girls of St. Brigid’s and O’Neill Shamrocks on Wednesday and the U-15 boys of Patrick Emmets and Scotstown on Thursday.

 

Mick Farrell Tournament: The third annual Mick Farrell Memorial Tournament was a great exhibition of U-11 football in (mostly) fine conditions at Gavan Duffy Park last Saturday. The two Harps teams were joined by fellow Monaghan clubs Aghabog, Clontibret, Drumhowan, Emyvale, Oram, Scotstown, Seán McDermotts, Truagh and Tyholland, as well as Cavan Gaels, Cootehill Celtic, Gowna and Mullahoran from Cavan and Pomeroy (Tyrone). Our own U-11s fell short of retaining the Mick Farrell Cup after losing to Cavan Gaels and Truagh in the group stage, with the former progressing to the Cup Final, where they lost a good contest against an impressive Clontibret team. Oram ran out winners in the Shield, getting the better of the Seáns in the decider. Thanks to all our referees, officials and helpers on the day, all the teams and mentors who travelled and everyone involved in organising the tournament. Thanks also to Dean and Fanning’s Home Bakery for their donation of food and well done to Dónal Sherry for not only having the grounds ready but also for having the green and white flags up both for the Harps and in recognition of the All-Ireland hurling success of Mick’s beloved Limerick. The running of this tournament in memory of Mick Farrell is a fitting tribute to one of our club’s great servants and we were delighted to have many members of the Farrell family present on the day.

 

Seniors: We fell to a very disappointing defeat against Truagh in the preliminary round of the Greenfield Foods Senior Football Championship last Saturday. Two points apiece from Neil McAdam, Michael Galligan and Shane Smyth were all we could muster in reply to 1-25 from Truagh in a game where very little went right for us.

Team and scorers: Emmett McArdle; Thomas Croarkin, Conor Galligan, Aidan Burns; Nicholas Scott (Capt.), Gareth Treanor, Aodhán Óg McAnespie; Neil McAdam (0-2, 1f), Dylan McKenna; Michael Galligan (0-2), Francis Lynch, David Lowry; Liam Hahessy, Shane Smyth (0-2), Éimhín Morahan.

Subs: Kevin Loughran for Burns (22 mins), Stephen Driver for McKenna (H-T), Niall Ward for Lynch (48), Conor McCrystal for Hahessy (49), John Mulligan for Lowry (black card, 51), Niall Hahessy for Croarkin (55), Niall McManus for Treanor (57).

We face Carrickmacross in Round 1B in Clontibret this Saturday at 4.15pm.

 

U-17: Our U-17s continued their league campaign with a hard-earned win at home to Castleblayney last Sunday. Points by Lorcan O’Rourke, Lochlainn Power, Luke Coyle, Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh, Mujtaba Gamal and Dylan Ballantine had our lads 0-9 to 1-4 up at half-time. Lorcan found the net after the restart and with Lochlainn, Mujtaba and Anann Connor adding points, our lads pulled away, but a late rally from Blayney saw the gap reduced to just three in the end at 1-14 to 1-11.

Team and scorers: Daragh Croarkin; Cathal Nally, Oisín Fagan, Dean Doherty; Stephen Ward, Killian Conlon, Conor Devlin; Lorcan O’Rourke (1-2), Lochlainn Power (0-2); James McKenny, Luke Coyle (0-2), Jamie McCarron; Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh (0-2), Mujtaba Gamal (0-3, 1f), Dylan Ballantine (0-2).

Subs used: Terence McDonald, Anann Connor (0-1).

Our U-17s host Latton in the Division One Championship this Sunday at 11am. Good luck to team and management. All support welcome.

 

U-15: Our U-15 Division One team fell short after extra-time in last Tuesday’s Championship Final against Donaghmoyne in Drumhowan. A great effort by our lads saw us go so close, having led by 1-5 to 0-7 at the end of a first half where Nathan Lavery’s goal was added to by points from Jamie Coyle, Jake Power, Ben Myers and Shay Cooney, with the likes of Tiarnán O’Rourke and Liam Conway also driving us forward. Shay, Luke McManus and Nathan were on target in the third quarter and although a soft goal had edged Donaghmoyne ahead, late points from Nathan and Liam made it 1-11 apiece after 60 minutes. We could only manage a point from Ben during extra-time, however, while Donaghmoyne added 1-4 to their tally – the goal from a penalty – to secure the win. Hard luck to our lads.

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

Subs used: Jake McConnon, Luke McManus (0-1), Josh Lavery, Shea Swift, Michael McMorrow, Fachtna Mac Conghail.

Saturday saw our Division Five team contest the league final against Tyholland in Clones. Tyholland made a storming start to this game to all but send it beyond our reach, although a spirited effort by our lads saw Luke and Mark McManus, Ben Myers and Josh Kelly all get on target before half-time, while Karol Parszywka made some fine saves before moving outfield. We competed much better in the second half, with goals from Luke, Mark and Karol, as well as points by Luke, Mark, Josh and Fachtna Mac Conghail seeing us rack up a total of 3-11. Tyholland added a brace of goals, however, to remain clear on 5-15. Well done to all the players involved with this team this year.

Team and scorers: Karol Parszywka (1-0); Jordan Crampton, Josh Lavery; Michael McMorrow, Gary Devlin (Capt.); Mark McManus (1-2, 0-1f), Fachtna Mac Conghail (0-1); Shea Swift, Josh Kelly (0-3, 1f); Ben Myers (0-2, 1f), Luke McManus (1-3, 0-1f).

Subs used: Jake McConnon, Oisín Reilly, Gregory O’Connell, Eoin McCleary.

 

U-13: Our U-13 Division One team were edged out in their Championship Final against Carrickmacross on Wednesday. Our lads face the same opposition in the league final next Wednesday (September 5) in Doohamlet at 6.30pm. Good luck to all involved.

 

DIL: The 2018 Darkness into Light Monaghan Tree of Hope was planted on our club grounds recently. We are delighted and proud that this year’s event raised over €38,000 for Pieta House, the centre for the prevention of self-harm/suicide. Marie Peelo and Kieran Brady of Pieta House again joined club members and DIL volunteers on the night. Thanks again to everyone who contributed.

 

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), Chairman Jimmy Croarkin (087 1249635) or any committee member for more details. Please note that the deadline for sponsoring a seat is upon us so please return cards as soon as possible.

 

‘Go Pink for Pamela’: There will be a 5km family fun walk, organised by the Monaghan Pink Ladies group and supporting a good cause, starting at our grounds this Sunday at 2pm.

 

Dates to remember: Our Family Fun Day has been rescheduled for September 29.

 

Handball: We host a homecoming for our World Champion handballers in our clubhouse on Friday night (August 31) at 8.45pm. All welcome.

 

Clubhouse: 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: The U-13 squad travelled to Cremartin last Monday to take on Castleblayney in the championship final. The Harps started the better, led by joint captains Seán Callan and Oisín Murray, as they raced into a 0-6 to 0-1 lead at half-time. However, Blayney hit a purple patch at the start of the second half, converting three goals in seven minutes to push themselves into the lead. The Harps fought their way back into the game and brought the match to extra-time as the teams finished level on a 1-8 to 3-2 scoreline; Seán Callan converting to goal for the Harps. Blayney rallied in extra-time and a strong display from them saw the game finish 1-9 to 4-5 with Blayney being crowned championship winners. Well done to the whole Harps squad for their efforts throughout the season and to their management team of Jim Dalton, Adrian Dalton and Paddy Connolly.

Squad and scorers: Oisín McPhillips, Oisín Connolly, Rylan McCooey, Enda Brady, Cian Bradley (0-1), Ethan Ballantine (0-2), Seán Callan (1-5), Oisín Murray (0-1), Nicholas Sherlock, Matthew McGuinness, James Brady, Odhrán Connolly, Jack McDonald, Oisín McGeown, Tiarnach Connolly, Jonas Alexis.

 

Senior: The curtain came down on the senior hurling season on Thursday last as Saint Macartan’s bowed out of the senior league to Castleblayney at the semi-final stage on the Concra pitch. Although St. Macartan’s enjoyed their fair share of possession throughout this game, the most notable difference between the teams was in the taking of scoring opportunities, as was reflected on the scoreboard at the final whistle. Blayney converted two goal chances midway through the first half and both keepers pulled off some great saves throughout the game, with Dylan McAree in particular pulling off two outstanding stops in the Macartan’s goals, one in either half. Macartan’s goaled through Aidan Burns and Cathal Power and a Pearse McKenna point (which was the pick of the Macartan’s scores from range) showed some of the potential that this squad contains, however in the end the more efficient and experienced team won out and Blayney progress to the league final on a 3-16 to 2-05 scoreline.

 

Juvenile Coaching: Coaching for juveniles continues every Sunday in Rooskey between 12 noon and 1.30pm.