Ladies Football Notes

Monaghan U16 girls follow in the footsteps of Senior girls capturing Ulster title with a magnificant win over Tyrone

Monaghan U16 girls showed what they were made of, when they had an emphatic victory over hot favourites Tyrone in the Ulster Final in Donagh last Saturday, the final Score Monaghan 6-10 Tyrone 4-2

It was a far distance from their previous game against Tyrone in Emyvale, when they were well beaten. But as their manager Seamus Murray stated last week, this group of girls have put in a tremendous effort over the past number of weeks and that effort was well and truly rewarded on Saturday.

Monaghan started with the wind in the opening half and with just a minute on the clock gone Aoife Duffy hit the back of the net for Monaghan. Tyrone went on the attack but excellent defending by centre half back Ciara Mc Dermott denied Tyrone. Monaghan were unlucky not to add a few more points but Tryone did get on the scoreboard with a point from Niamh Mc Nulty. Monaghan responded almost immediately with an excellent point from Joanne Culleton. Tyrone’s Niamh O Neill then found the back of the net for Tyrone and their second goal followed, this time from Mellissa Mc Cann. With just 8 minutes of the first half gone, Tyrone were leading 2-1 to 1-1. Monaghan added a point this time from Leanne Maguire to narrow the gap. A number of wides in succession by Monaghan left the Monaghan supporters worried but the girls kept to the task at hand and Aoife Duffy was very unlucky not to get her second goal when her shot was deflected over the bar for a point. Megan Atkinson added another point for Monaghan before Monaghan scored their second goal of the day. It resulted from a good kick out from Alana O Donohue with Leanne Maguire finishing off the move to put Monaghan 2-4 to 2-1 ahead. Lisa Lennon got her name on the scoresheet with another fine point. Once again excellent defending by Monaghan’s Ciara Mc Dermott prevented Tryone from narrowing the gap and with 16 minutes of the half gone, Leanne Maguire increased Monaghan’s lead with another point.The final few minutes of the half saw Tyrone pressurise Monaghan trying to narrow the gap but credit to the Monaghan’s defence, they held strong. Then a great move by Monaghan saw the excellent Leanne Maguire win the ball. She skillfully side stepped her opponent and fired to the back of the net to put Monaghan 3-6 to 2-1 ahead at the break.

Monaghan playing against the wind in the second half found themselves having to defend in the opening minutes of the half. Amy Murray their captain was introduced but it was Tyrone who opened the scoring of the half with a goal from Niamh O Neill. Tyrone were then guilty of a number of wide, but it must be said it was the pressure that the Monaghan defence that made it difficult for them. Ciara Mc Dermott stopped what looked like a certain goal for Tyrone but then Grainne Rafferty did find the net to close the gap for Tyrone. With 13 minutes of the second half gone, Monaghan’s lead was reduced to just 2 points, 3-6 to 4-1. With the wind at their backs it looked liked Tryone were going to take control of the game, but the Monaghan girls showed great character. Amy Murray scored a great goal for Monaghan to break Tyrone’s momentum and two points in succession by Leanne Maguire and Megan Atkinson put the Monaghan girls back in control. Another great run by Amy Murray resulted in Leanne Maguire getting another point. Tyrone’s Siobhan added a point for Tyrone to leave the scores after 19 minutes, Monaghan 4-9 Tyrone 4-2. Another great move from Monaghan starting in defence saw Eimear O Rourke find Danielle Mulligan who released the ball to Joanne Culleton who fired over the bar. This was followed by goal number 5 for Monaghan with Aoife Duffy and Amy Murray combining to find Leanne Maguire. Victory was within reach for the Monaghan girls and there was loud applause from the crowd as Tara Mc Meel, Amy Mc Kenna, Holly Mc Kenna and Charlotte Mc Kenna all were introduced for Monaghan. In injury time Tyrone were awarded a penalty but Alana O Donohue in her first time in goals saved. The ball went straight down the field and Megan Atkinson who had worked tirelessly all day scored a goal, the final score of the day to leave Monaghan victorious on a scoreline of

Monaghan 6-10 Tyrone 4-2

The large crowd of supporters ran out to congratulate both management and players on what was an excellent performance all round and as Amy Murray received the cup, she rightly praised the girls for the effort they put in.

Alana O Donohue found herself in goals for the first time but despite this new position for her, she adapted really well . Two of Monaghan’s goals came from her good kick outs and she saved the penalty right at the end. The full back line of Eimear O Rourke, Sinead Murray and Jessica Drohan kept Tyrone’s dangerous forwards at bay. Laura Carey worked really hard. Ciara Mc Dermott was excellent at centre half back and she was ably assisted by Muireann O Rourke whose penetrating runs forward caused Tyrone many problems. Ciara Larney and Danielle Mulligan worked tirelessly at midfield. Up front, Monaghan’s forwards done what Tyrone did in Emyvale . Their speed and work rate were excellent. Aoife Duffy and Joanne Culleton tormented the Tyrone defence, with Brianon Mc Aleer, Lisa Lennon and Megan Atkinson all working together to put pressure on Tyrone. Amy Murray when introduced did likewise and when you have a player of the calibre of Leanne Maguire who was Monaghan’s top scorer with 3-4, Tyrone’s job was always going to be a difficult one.

In the end the Monaghan girls well and truly deserved their victory. They now meet the winners of Munster and with the ever growing confidence of the team, they will be hard to beat.

On behalf of the county board we congratulate the girls and their management on a wonderful result and we wish them all the best in the All Ireland semi final

Monaghan line out

Alana O Donohue, Eimear O Rourke, Sinead Murray, Jessice Drohan, Laura Carey, Ciara Mc Dermott, Muireann O Rourke, Ciara Larney, Danielle Mulligan, Brianon Mc Aleer, Leanne Maguire (3-4), Lisa Lennon (0-1), Joanne Culleton (0-2), Megan Atkinson (1-2), Aoife Duffy (1-1)

Subs used Amy Murray (1-0), Tara Mc Meel, Charlotte Mc Kenna, Holly Mc Kenna, Amy Mc Kenna

SENIORS

Like what our U16 girls were doing, our senior girls are working away and preparing for their All Ireland quarter finals. We don’t know yet who our opponents will be but we will know next week, as the final qualifier rounds take place this weekend. The remaining qualifying games to take place are

Galway V Dublin

Meath V Sligo

Donegal V Kerry

Tyrone V Tipperary

Monaghan will meet the winners of one of the above. They cannot howver meet Tyrone. Details on who their opponents will be next week.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUES

Club championship games continue this week to see who reaches the finals. In the Intemediate championship Aghabog and Magheracloone met on Tuesday night – Report next week. Then on Saturday Monaghan Harps meet Corduff. Monaghan Harps have lost a number of their more senior players this year but they have some great players coming through. Corduff had Ulster success at Intermediate level 2 years ago but they too have lost a number of players. This game will be a tough game to call and like many games this year, it will go down to who performs best on the night

In the junior championship, Emyvale B played Inniskeen last night. – Report next week. In the other semi final Latton play Donaghmoyne B. Latton have been rebuilding this year and have the experienced Diane Dempsey and Lavina Connolly in their ranks. They also have a number of young talented players coming through. Donaghamoyne B have been in fine form this year. They were only beaten by a point by many people’s favourites Inniskeen in the earlier round, and won their remaining games convincingly. They too have a number of very talented young players in their midst. This too will be an intriguing game and is a hard one to call.

RONAN LEONARD TOURNAMENT

The annual Ronan Leonard Tournament took place on Monday last in Aghabog, where many of last Saturday’s U16 stars were in action for their clubs. 12 teams took part on the day

Group 1: Magheracloone, Emyvale, Scotstown, Eire Og

Group 2: Monaghan Harps, Donaghmoyne, Inniskeen, Corduff

Group 3: Aghabog, St. Bridgets, Seans, Latton

The following were the results of the group stages.

Group stages Group 1

Magheracloone 2-8 v Emyvale 2-0

Scotstown 0-5 v Eire Og 2-3

Magheracloone 3-7 v Scotstown 3-1

Emyvale 0-2 v Eire Og 1-6

Magheracloone 2-7 v Eire Og 0-6

Emyvale 2-7 v Scotstown 1-2

Group 2

Harps 1-3 v Donaghmoyne 4-4

Inniskeen 5-4 v Corduff 2-6

Harps 4-6 v Inniskeen 3-0

Donaghmoyne 6-12 v Corduff 1-04

Harps 7-13 v Corduff 0-1

Donaghmoyne 8-7 v Inniskeen 1-1

Group 3

Aghabog 3-0 v St. Bridgets 2-6

Aghabog 1-9 v Seans 6-3

Aghabog 2-2 v Latton 5-4

Seans 2-3 v Latton 4-6

St. Bridgets 0-3 v Latton 6-6

St. Bridgets 2-5 v Seans 1-11

The top 2 games in each group went on into the cup competitions with the bottom 2 going into the shield. The following were the results.

Shield Competition

Preliminary Games St. Bridgets 3-6 v Emyvale 4-7 (AET)

Aghabog 3-5 v Inniskeen 5-5

Semi Final Scotstown 1-3 v Emyvale 2-3

Corduff 2-8 v Inniskeen 4-6

Final Emyvale 6-7 v Inniskeen 5-2

Cup Competition

Preliminary Games Magheracloone 3-6 v Harps 1-6

Donaghmoyne 6-12 v Seans 2-2

Semi Final Eire Og 1-3 v Magheracloone 2-9

Latton 2-2 v Donaghmoyne 3-10

Final Donaghmoyne 4-12 v Magheracloone 1-12 (AET)

Player of the Tournament: Leanne Maguire – Magheracloone

Well done to Leanne who followed up her excellent performance on Saturday last with another excellent performance and congrats to Donaghmoyne on winning the cup and Emyvale on winning the shield. Congrats also to the Aghabog club on running the tournament. Like Gloria Corrigan, Ronan Leonard put so much into football and it is great to see his memory being kept alive by this great tournament. Well done to all involved.

RESULTS

Division 1 Senior League

Donaghmoyne 5-18 Truagh 0-1

Division 2

Donaghmoyne B 1-11 Aghabog 2-13

Scotstown w/o Donaghmoyne

Magheracloone 2-14 Monaghan Harps 3-8

Division 3

Latton beat Seans

Truagh 1-11 Emyvale 2-4

U12

Aughnamullen 3-10 Latton 1-4