Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 (that’s not a typo!). Jackpot of €1,600 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Ann McCabe c/o Owen Connell; €40 Ann McCarron c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Gary Magnone c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 F O’Connor c/o Paudge Connolly. Jackpot for Sunday, November 20 is €1,750. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. Congratulations to valued club member and tireless lotto-committee worker Paddy Donnelly on his retirement from An Post. All at the club wish him many happy, healthy years in the future.

Mr & Mrs.: Thanks to everyone who attended our very successful and enjoyable ‘Mr. & Mrs.’ fundraiser last Saturday night. Six couples took part in the night, which was based on the format of the television show and provided great entertainment for the large crowd. The couples represented all sections of the Harps club – Club Chairman Dermot Brannigan and Liz; senior footballer Dean Fanning and Maggie; ladies footballer Orla Callan and Derek; handball representative Peter Clerkin and Brenda; Lotto-committee chairperson Maria McKenna and club referee Hugh – and the eventual winners, senior hurler Jack Lee and Sinéad Traynor. Thanks to everyone who helped make it a very successful night, which saw a couple of hundred people squeeze into the clubhouse – surely the biggest crowd in the bar in some time. Special thanks have to go to the six couples who bravely agreed to take part and well done to Jack and Sinéad. The organising committee of Liadhan Treanor, Ciarán Cuddy, Owen Connell and Una Forde put in a great effort and Owen and Una did a great job of hosting the event. Thanks also to the raffle sponsors, to Nicholas Scott, Stephen Driver, Gary White and Neil McAdam for helping out behind the bar, to the club’s Sparoi Scór team for playing music to get proceedings underway and Aidan Connell for DJing and supplying his sound equipment.

 

Street League: Monaghan Harps juvenile street leagues continued last Sunday morning, with the standout players being Conor McCrystal and Niall Ward, who led their team to victory by just a few points. The other team played some great football, particularly Thomas Croarkin and Conor Duffy, but it just wasn’t enough. Street leagues will continue on Sunday mornings from 10.30-11.30.

 

AGM: Nomination forms have been sent out ahead of the club’s Annual General Meeting, which takes place on Sunday, November 27. To make nominations, motions or proposals, the forms must be returned to Club Secretary Lorcan McAdam by Monday, November 21. We encourage as many as possible to attend and get involved in the running of our club. The juvenile club’s AGM takes place next Thursday, November 24.

 

Quiz: Our next fundraiser is a table-quiz in the clubhouse on Saturday, December 9. A meeting will take place in the clubhouse this Sunday at 7.30pm and anyone who wants to get involved in organizing the quiz is welcome to attend.

 

Aido File: Congratulations to Posh and Becks, aka Sinéad and Jack, on winning the Monaghan Harps Mr. & Mrs. competition on behalf of the Hurling Club. The lads now all have an insight into the minds of the couple and what makes them tick. Things like…. little red riding hood outfits, Jack as a naked chef or Jack’s favourite TV show/movie ‘riding and the city’. Cheers to all hurlers who supported the event and the winning couple in particular. Happy birthday to goal machine Conor Flynn who turned 14 last week. It took him a wee while longer to get going Sunday morning after the celebrations but it was probably the coke and sweets weighing him down.

 

Handball: The handball world stood up and took note of Monaghan Harps Handball Club player Ramunas Ramanauskasm who shocked every pundit by reaching the last four in the top A section of the Irish Nationals for players of 15 years or under. This was in fact the national trials for the Irish team that will represent Ireland in the USA in December. Ramunas came within two matches of being chosen for that team. On the way he astounded everyone by beating the top-seeded player from Tyrone, Johnny Woods 21-18, 18-21 and 11-7 in Kells, Co Kilkenny.  Ramunas then travelled to Windgap where he defeated Brian Fahy from Clare in the quarter-finals. On Sunday, he returned to Kilkenny city for the semi-final, where he eventually lost in two games to Meath player Evan Sheridan, the current All-Ireland champion. We also had five other players in Kilkenny.  Terry McElvaney lost in the Under-19 section. Pride of place goes to the performances of our Under-12 doubles players: Caileán Myles and Eoghan McGinnity, who narrowly lost out in the semi-finals in a tiebreak, and Justas Dambinskas and Jakub Szkup, who reached the last eight. Thanks to all who travelled to Kilkenny to support the players.

 

Sem: Well done to Kevin Loughran, Jason McHugh, Jamie Cassidy and John Mulligan, who are part of the St. Macartan’s College Rannafast Cup panel that won their semi-final against St. Colman’s, Newry last Friday. The final is due to be played tomorrow night (Wednesday) in Omagh, so best of luck to the Sem team.

 

Gloria: We are delighted to welcome well-known Monaghan-born singer Gloria to the clubhouse at Gavan Duffy Park on Saturday, December 3.

 

Speedy recovery: Get well soon to two of our very talented juvenile footballers, Jamie Coyle and Liam McCabe, who are both recovering from injuries.

 

Charity match: The club’s annual charity match has been fixed for Monday, January 2, 2012, so please keep the date in your diary!

Lost & Found: A set of keys were found in the clubhouse on Saturday night. If you think they are yours, contact Liadhan on 086 7837204.

Coaching: An impressive line-up of coaches and tutors will take part in a Football Coaching Conference at St. Macartan’s College on Saturday, November 26. The conference, which costs €10 or €30 for four from one club, aims to provide quality information and innovative methods of delivery for coaches working with players from 6 to 16 years of age.

 

Clubhouse: The Gavan Duffy Park clubhouse, which offers fully-lighted lounge and function-room and ample car-parking space, is available to book for parties and functions, by contacting Liadhan Treanor at 086 7837204.

 

Twitter: Our twitter page is a good way of keeping in touch with club news. We are still playing catch-up on other local clubs, so get following @MonaghanHarps!

Congratulations: To Monaghan’s Gráinne and Therese McNally, Sharon Courtney and Ciara McAnespie on winning Ladies Football All-Star awards.