Fixtures: Thursday, April 11: U-15 FL Division One v Clontibret (Home) at 6.30pm

Friday, April 12: U-15 FL Division Four v Scotstown (Away) at 6.45pm

Saturday, April 13: IFL v Donaghmoyne (Away) at 7pm; U-13 FL Division One v Scotstown (Away) at 12pm; U-13 FL Division Five v Scotstown (Away) at 1.30pm

Sunday, April 14: U-19 FL Division Two v Castleblayney (Away) at 2pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 5, 6, 23 and 26. Jackpot of €1,200 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Jacqui Hall c/o senior footballers; €40 Lailah McKenna c/o Maria McKenna; €40 Edel McKenna c/o Dermot Coyle; €40 Malachy Toal c/o Séamus Treanor. Jackpot for Sunday, April 14 is €1,300 and Monica and Paudge Connolly 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 has now played a critical role in our club’s funding for almost 25 years: we plan to celebrate that milestone on April 28. We ask all club members to continue to promote our Lotto as much as possible. Please note that the 2019 Sunday-night rota is now available in the clubhouse.

 

Meetings: The club’s monthly meeting for April takes place this evening (Thursday) in the clubhouse at 8pm.

 

Seniors: We lost to Tyholland in the Monaghan Electrical Intermediate Football League last Saturday. A very slow start left us chasing the game from early on, although scores from Lochlainn Power, Oisín Fagan, Dylan McKenna and Neil McAdam brought us within two by half-time. We were unable to make further inroads in the second half, with Dean Fanning accounting for our only two points, as Tyholland ran out winners by 0-13 to 0-9.

Team and scorers: Darragh Hannon; John Mulligan, Kevin Loughran, Conor Duffy; Oisín Fagan (0-1), Conor Galligan, Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh; Aodhán Óg McAnespie (Capt.), Dylan McKenna (0-1); James McKenna, Lochlainn Power (0-3), Dean Fanning (0-3, 2f); Gary White, Neil McAdam (0-1), Michael Galligan.

Subs: Niall McManus for Ó Dufaigh (black card, 22 mins), Niall Greenan for Fagan, Shane McMahon for White (both 47).

We have another away game in Donaghmoyne this Saturday at 7pm. Please support!

 

Reserves: We enter the O’Duffy Cup championship with a preliminary-round game at home to Aughnamullen on Saturday week (April 20).

 

Minors: The new U-19 Football League continues with an away game against Castleblayney this Sunday at 2pm. The U-17 Football League got underway on Tuesday with a narrow win over Emyvale.

 

U-15: The U-15 Football Leagues started last Thursday, when our Division Four team enjoyed a good win at home to Latton on a scoreline of 4-13 to 3-5. The Division One league gets underway this evening (Thursday) when we host Clontibret at 6.30. This week’s Division Four game is away to Scotstown tomorrow evening (Friday). Good luck to all involved.

 

U-13: Our U-13 teams are back in action this Saturday in a Division One/Division Five double-header away to Scotstown. These games throw in at 12 noon and 1.30.

 

U-11: Our U-11s hosted Scotstown in the Spring League last Saturday. The next Spring League round takes our U-11s to Clontibret on April 20.

 

Coaching: Our Saturday-morning coaching for our youngest players returned last weekend. The club is very fortunate to have a pool of hardworking and dedicated individuals who look after and coach these “early learners”. Our Saturday-morning activities are fun-filled and enjoyed by the children and are an equally rewarding and enjoyable experience to those who help make it happen, so we encourage anyone with an interest to get involved.

 

Registration: Registration fees for 2019 are now overdue but can still be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor or in the clubhouse. Please note that all juvenile and adult players must be paid-up members. Fees are as follows: U-11s €20; juveniles/seniors €30; family membership €60.

 

Dates to remember: The 25^th anniversary party for the club’s Lotto is planned for April 28. Darkness into Light will take place for a sixth time in Monaghan on May 11, 2019.

 

County: Good luck to Daragh, Tiarnan, Liam, Nathan and the Monaghan minor and U-16 teams in their finals against Tyrone this Saturday.

 

Schools: Good luck to all involved with the St. Macartan’s College team in the upcoming Brock Shield Final.

 

Clubhouse: The Monaghan Harps clubhouse is available to book for functions. Please contact Paudge Connolly on 085 8589135 or Rose Donnelly on 086 0825782 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience.

 

Pitches: Training schedules for all teams are currently being finalised. Coaches are asked to please ensure that gates and dressing rooms are locked and all equipment, bottles etc. is removed from the pitch after training sessions.

 

Coaching: We have been running a coaching programme in local primary schools. Thanks to Coaching Officers Martin Sheridan and Mel McMorrow and the coaches involved in getting this up and running.

 

Ladies: U-14s: Well done to our U-14s, who qualified for the Division Two Championship Final by defeating Truagh by 2-5 to 1-6 last Wednesday evening. A low-scoring first half ended 0-3 to 0-2 in the Harps’ favour. In a thrilling, nail-biting second half, Truagh pushed ahead by 1-4 to 0-5, but as the rain pelted down, the Harps girls fought back gallantly and equalised with a goal from Orlaith McNally. A second goal minutes later from Aoibheann McGinnity sealed the tie. Try as they might, Truagh could not break down a superb Harps defence.

Team and scorers: Diana McKenny, Ellen McDonald, Caoimhe O’Neill, Orlaith McNally (1-0), Aoife McSkeane (0-1f), Aoibheann McGinnity (1-2), Niamh McElwain, Katie Trainor (0-1), Eve McNally, Hannah McQuaid, Orla Sherry, Kelly Croarkin, Alice Trainor, Kayla Fagan, Annabel Bogue (0-1), Amy McDonald, Tanya Moore, Aoibhinn MacCinna, Grace McConnon, Ailbhe Ward, Mia Doran, Geraldine Sweeney, Aoife O’Gara.

The final was scheduled for Tuesday night (April 9) v St Brigid’s. Please check Facebook page for details.

U-16s: Our U-16s kick off their league season in Division Three with an away game in Doohamlet next Monday (April 15) at 6.45pm.

All-Ireland: Hard luck to Coláiste Oiriall, who were defeated by Moate in last week’s All-Ireland U-16.5 final. Special mention to manager Niamh Maguire and Harps members Scarlett, Dearbhla, Áine and Kayla. “Beidh lá eile”.

 

Website: Our new club website is now live. See www.monaghanharps.gaa.ie to keep up to date with our latest club news and fixtures.

 

Scholarships: Coiste Cultúir & Gaeilge Coiste Chontae Mhuineacháin is offering scholarships for young people to attend Cúrsaí Gaeltachta during the summer of 2019. All members of Monaghan Harps are eligible to apply. Application forms are available from the resources section of www.monaghangaa.ie. All applications to be forwarded to Oifigeach Cultúrtha, Cláirsigh Mhuineacháin, 9 Old Park Court, Muineachán by April 8, 2019. A scholarship is also available this year for a family to attend a Gaeltacht course for a week. Expressions of interest to Oifigeach Cultúrtha as well.

 

O’Neills: A range of Harps gear can now be bought online from O’Neills website. See the club’s social-media pages for the link.

 

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