Monaghan senior ladies will take to the field this Sunday in Clones, hoping to make it 3 in a row Senior Ulster championships. Their opponents will be Donegal who had a convincing win over Tyrone in the semi finals. Monaghan did meet Donegal earlier in the league, but Donegal were missing a few regulars that day, notably Geraldine Mc Loughlin who caused all sorts of problems for Tyrone. The last time they met in the championship was 4 years ago in the Ulster semi final in Healy Park Omagh, when Donegal ran them all the way in what was a closely fought contest. Donegal seemed to slip back a bit since then at senior level anyway, but their underage teams were very successful, bringing All Ireland titles home. They seem to be making a comeback this year, and their performance against Tyrone suggest that they will be all out to stop Monaghan’s winning streak.

Donegal have a wealth of talent in their teams over the past few years and having watched their U16 team in action 2 weeks ago, they are definately a team for the future. They will go into the game on Sunday with renewed confidence after that win over Tyrone. Monaghan on the other hand, will be hoping to follow on from their National League success. They like Donegal had a convincing win over Tyrone in the opening round of the championship. On their form this year to date, Monaghan will go into this game as favourites, but in championship football anything can happen. We just have to look at the result of last weekend’s Connacht final when Galway beat Mayo in what was a complete turn around of the Div 2 National League final. On that occassion Mayo stormed to victory.

Monaghan have the players and the talent to capture the 3 in a row. Last time Monaghan got the 3 in a row was in 2006 having won the previous 2 years. Donegal will be going for their first ever Senior title. The last time they reached the final was in 2004 when Monaghan were their opponents. The final score that day was 3-9 to 1-10 in favour of Monaghan.

I expect this Sunday’s game to be a real good contest. Both teams play fast flowing football, and I expect nothing different this Sunday. Monaghan have been excellent this year and if they play to their full potential, then hopefully the cup will be staying put in the Farney county.

It’s just a pity that Monaghan’s men are out on Sunday as well in their Championship qualifier . It is very disappointing to see the fixtures clash as I know a lot of supporters would love to go to both. There has been a lot of talk about integration over the past few years, but having both teams out in such important games at the same time flies in the face of that. I just hope  that the ladies will get the support they deserve. This team have been great ambassadors for the GAA and I would urge supporters to come to Clones on Sunday. It is no less than they deserve. Throw in for Sunday’s game is 2.45pm.

I spoke to Sharon Courtney during the week about her feelings going into the game. I asked her was she surprised with Donegal’s convincing win over Donegal.

She said that after Tyrone’s poor performance against Monaghan in the semi final she thought that Tyrone wouldn’t play as poor again. She felt that it would have been a much closer contest and was surprised at Donegal’s winning margin. Having said that she is only too aware of Donegal’s success at underage level over recent years and she knows that Monaghan’s defence in particular will have to be on their toes as Donegal are capable of putting up big scores.

In the semi final against Tyrone, Sharone came off injured and I asked her what way she is at present and is she confident going into the game.

Sharon was quick to point out that she is making herself available for Sunday’s big clash. She has been back training this week and it will be all systems go this weekend. She is confident going into the game as she believes Monaghan have a strong panel. They have put in serious work so far this year. They won the National League against Cork but they are really focused on what they want, and that is another trip to Croke Park and a chance to get their hands on the Brendan Martin Cup. Sunday will be just one step towards that goal.

In 2008, Donegal ran Monaghan very close in the Ulster semi final. I asked Sharon did she believe Donegal were capable of pushing Monaghan as close this Sunday.

As Sharon said, the championship has been very open. The signs are there that it will be a closely fought match, as both sides beat Tyrone by a similar scoreline. Monaghan will be all out to win that 3 in a row, but Donegal will be hoping to win their first Senior title. All the signs are for an intruiging battle.

Talking of battles, I asked Sharon where she thought the big battles would be on Sunday.

By all accounts they have a very lively full forward line she said, but on the other hand so have Monaghan as was evident against Tyrone. So maybe it’ll be the battle between the full forwards and the full backs.
 

Sharon finished off her interview calling on supporters to come out on Sunday. Good support can make such a difference, and no doubt Donegal will have a big following travelling down to Clones on Sunday. So once again on behalf of Monaghan ladies county board we wish the senior team and mananagement the very best of luck on Sunday and  I call on Monaghan supporters to make their way to Clones on Sunday. This team deserve your support.

The Monaghan U16 girls put themselves right back into contention again in the championship with an impressive display against Armagh in Crossmaglen on Saturday last. This means that this Saturday’s game against Tryone will be the deciding game on who will meet Donegal in the Ulster final.

After their poor performance in their opening game against Donegal, Monaghan knew they had to up their performance and this they certainly did. It was Armagh who opened the scoring of the half with a point from the very lively Bridgette Quinn. However Monaghan quickly responded, when Leanne Maguire who started in the full forward position, showed the talent she has when she dummied her opponent to fire over Monaghan’s first point. Armagh looked dangerous in the opening quarter and it took some excellent defending by Rebecca Ahern and Eimear O Rourke to keep Armagh at bay. Good work from Monaghan’s Casey Treanor resulted in another point for Monaghan with Aoife Duffy firing over the bar to put Monaghan a point up. Armagh’s Nicola Mc Kenna was also causing problems for Monaghan and a surging run through by her saw Armagh score the opening goal of the game. Shauna Mohan playing very well for Monaghan pulled one back for Monaghan and good work by Grainne Mc Kenna saw Monaghan awarded a free. Leanne Maguire converted to leave the sides all square. . An excellent point from the very impressive Laura Carey put Monaghan in the lead before Bridgette Quinn equalised once again when she converted a free. It was end to end action in this opening period and another excellent point from Leanne Maguire regained Monaghan’s lead. Monaghan’s defence had to work very hard as Armagh continued to push forward but they held firm and another point from Leanne Maguire gave Monaghan a 2 point lead . A superb point from Armagh’s Clara Boyle narrowed the gap to just a single point once again before Grainne Mc Kenna found Leanne Maguire who fired over the bar to leave the score going into the final minutes of the half

Armagh 1-3  Monaghan 0-8. Excellent defending once again by Casey Treanor broke down an Armagh attack. She found Brionan Mc Aleer who released to Laura Casey on the 45 metre line.A great run forward by Laura saw her head straight towards goal and fire to the back of the net to put Monaghan 5 up. Armagh went straight back on the attack again and a point from Nicola Mc Kenna ended the scoring of the half.

It was Leanne Maguuire who opened the scoring of the second half with another point before Armagh’s Bridgette Quinn pulled one back for Armagh.  Aoife Duffy was very unlucky not to score for Monaghan when her shot on goal came off the crossbar. Monaghan introduced Tori Carolan and what an impact she had when introduced. A great move involving Grainne Mc Kenna and Leanne Maguire resulted in Tori scoring Monaghan’s second goal of the day. This gave Monaghan the lift they needed and 3 points in succession from leanne Ward, Shauna Mohan and Tori Carolan put Monaghan 2-12 to 1-5 clear. Bridgette Quinn pulled one back for Armagh and Aoife Mc Mahon added another for Armagh soon after. Leanne Maguire responded for Monaghan firing over another fine point . Contrary to what the scoreline suggests Armagh were making the Monaghan defence work really hard  and credit must go to the defence who stood strong against some very impressive Armagh forwards. Bridgette Quinnn Armagh’s danger forward was trying very hard to break the Monaghan defence but all she could manage was a point  as the defence stood firm. Nicole Mc Kenna conveted a free for Armagh in what was to be their last score of the game. It was all Monaghan for the last 5 minutes. A high lobbing shot from Tori Carolan dropped in over the Armagh goalie’s head giving Tori her second goal of the day. Laura Carey followed up with another great point and the last score of the day came from the hard working Grainne Mc Kenna who hit the net to score Monaghan’s 4th goal of the day. It was no more than she deserved for her efforts througout the game. The final whistle blew and Monaghan were delighted  having put themselves back into contention for the championship.

Alish Clear, Rebecca Ahern, Emer O Rourke, Emer Mc Anespie, Rebecca Hughes, Casey Treanor, Megan Conlon, Laura Carey (1-2), Aoife Duffy (0-1), Leanne Ward (0-1), Lisa Lennon, Shauna Mohan (0-2), Grainne Mc Kenna (1-0), Leanne Maguire (0-7 1free), Daisy Monaghan. Subs used  Brionan Mc Aleer, Tori Carolan (2-1), Roisin Finnegan, Clodagh Hamilton, Grainne Mc Cluskey

Anne Carr, Shauna Mc Geown, Naoime O Callaghan, Shauna Mc Crink, Kerry Garvey, Louise Kenny, Chloe Magill, Chlodagh Mc Cambridge, Clara Boyle(0-1), Moya Feehan, Dearbhla Wright, Bridgette Quinn (0-5 1f), Hanna Keenan, Nicola Mc Kenna 1-2)

Subs used Aoife Mc Mahon (0-1)

This was a great win for the girls. After their disappointing result against Donegal, they knew going into this game that they needed not only a win, but a good performance and they got both.  They switched things around with Leanne Maguire going back into full forward and her performance on Saturday justified that move as she scored a total of 7 points and played a big part in many of Monaghan’s other scores. Eimer O Rourke who missed the Donegal game started at full back and had a great game. The defence all played well as Armagh had a number of very dangerous forwards and they made the Monaghan defence work very hard. Laura Carey once again was outstanding covering every blade of grass on the field. The forwards worked very hard with Leanne Maguire controlling things from full forward. Tori Carolan who didn’t do  herself justice against Donegal made up for it last Saturday. When introduced she showed what she is capable off scoring 2-1 in the  process.

Monaghan now meet Tyrone on Saturday. Tyrone lost out by 4 points to Donegal last weekend so Donegal are now assured of an Ulster final spot. The result of the  Monaghan/ tyrone game will decide who their opponents will be. There is all to play for now. Monaghan’s win over Armagh will have given them the confidence they need. They just need to go out on Saturday and continue where they left off against Armagh, and hopefully the result will come Monaghan’s way. On behalf of the county board, we wish them the very best of luck this Saturday. Let’s hope Monaghan will be in another Ulster final this year.

Venue for Saturday’s game is Fintona .  Throw in 2pm

Monaghan 4-14   Armagh 1-9

Corduff 3-7  Donaghmoyne 2-11

Monaghan Harps 4-7  Truagh 0-8

Magheracloone/Aghabog not played

Seans 1-6  Doohamlet 1-3

St Brigids  4-1  Killanny 4-9

Latton 4-19  Carrickmacross 1-2

O Neills 2-11  Aughnamullen 2-5

Corduff 6-6  Carrickmacross 1-4

Inniskeen 6-11 Magheracloone 4-5

Donaghmoyne bt Latton

Aughnamullen 4-5  Killanny 0-2

O Neills bt Aghabog

St Brigids 0-4  Killevan 8-6

Scotstown 5-8  Harps 0-3

Emyvale bt Truagh

Eyholland 10-8 Seans 2-1

Eire Og bt Doohamlet

Tyrone V  Monaghan – Saturday 14th July @ 2pm

Seans  V   Aughnamullen – Tuesday 17th July @ 7.30pm

Scotstown V Magheracloone   – Thursday 19th July @ 7.30pm

Reserve League  – Thursday 12th July @ 7pm

Division 1  Aghabog   V  Corduff

                Monaghan Harps V Emyvale

Division 2  Doohamlet V Killanny

Division 1   Truagh V  Magheracloone

Division 2   Aughnamullen V Seans

                 Latton V  St Brigids

                 Carrickmacross V O  Neills

 

Carrick    v  Magheracloone                 

Killanny   v  Donaghmoyne    

O Neills   v  Killevan

Inniskeen v  Corduff      

Latton v Aughamullen 

St Brigids v Aghabog

Truagh v Monaghan Harps

Scotstown v Emyvale

Seans v Eire Og

Doohamlet v Tyholland

 

There will be an emergency delegates meeting tonight Thursday 12th in Cremartin at 9pm. All clubs are asked to send 2 delegates to the meeting.