Monaghan Harps notes

Saturday, July 20: RFC Division Three v Blackhill in Cremartin at 7pm; Under-12 FL Division 1A v Scotstown (Away) at 1.15pm; Under-12 FL Division 2B v Cremartin (Away) at 12pm

Monday, July 22: Under-16 HL v Carrickmacross (Away) at 8pm; U-12 HL v Carrickmacross (Away) at 6.45pm

Tuesday, July 23: MFL Division One v Scotstown (Home) at 7.45pm

Wednesday, July 24: RFL Division 1A v Clontibret (Home) at 8pm

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 3, 11, 17 and 25. The jackpot of €5,800 was won by Martin McEntee c/o Liadhan Treanor. Congratulations to Martin! Jackpot for Sunday, July 14 is €1,000 and Owen and Gráinne Connell are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome.

Mick Farrell RIP: Monaghan Harps GAA Club lost one of its greats last Tuesday evening when news filtered through of the passing of Mick Farrell. Born in Limerick in 1929, Mick moved to Monaghan in the 1970s, through his work with Telecom Éireann (later eircom) and he soon became a valued member of the town’s community. Mick was synonymous with Monaghan Harps and it will take getting used to not having him around Gavan Duffy Park. His involvement with the Harps club stretched over the last four decades, during which time he served terms as chairman, secretary and PRO, as well as several positions with the juvenile committee. A sporting ecumenist and a fan of both football and hurling, Mick was also involved (along with Marie) in other local organisations such as the tennis club and he enjoyed watching many sports. Mick had a great interest in history and he was a talented painter, as well as being a debater and raconteur. The esteem in which Mick is held by club members and in the wider community was shown by the attendance at his Funeral Mass, which included a guard of honour by the Harps and a well-written eulogy by Fergus Coyle. We offer our deepest sympathies to all of Mick’s relations. He will be missed by his loving wife Marie, his daughters Clare, Mary, Edel and Carissa, his son Denis, his sons-in-law, his daughter-in-law, his eleven treasured grandchildren and his extended family and friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Reserves: The club’s third team contests its first championship final this Saturday, when we take on Blackhill in Cremartin at 7pm. All support would be appreciated. Best of luck to all involved.

The RFL Division 1A resumed on Monday evening, when we had a 1-15 to 1-11 win over Magheracloone in Corduff. Paddy Connolly was on song in the first half, kicking five points, while Ashley White added three and Evan Doherty also kicked a point to give us a 0-9 to 0-7 lead. We started the second half with points from Niall Greenan and Ashley, but Magheracloone struck for the opening goal to equalise. Paddy added 1-1 in the last ten minutes, while Paul Rushe and Stephen Driver added their names to the scoresheet to wrap up the result.

Team and scorers: Cónall McKenna, Gary Trappe, Shane Coyle (Capt.), Niall Treanor; Brendan McQuaid, Conor Devlin, Michael Galligan; Stephen Driver (0-1), Philip Drohan; Evan Doherty (0-1), Ashley White (0-5, 3f), Paul Rushe (0-1); Niall Greenan (0-1), Gerard Gilsenan, Paddy Connolly (1-6).

Subs: Mustafa Gamal for Trappe, Conor McCaughey for Doherty, Dean McMahon for Treanor, Jason McHugh for Gilsenan, Conor Forde for Greenan.

We are also away to Scotstown tomorrow night (Wednesday) – check website for details – while we host Clontibret next Wednesday.

Minors: Our minors fell to a heavy defeat in Carrickmacross last Tuesday when they were without a few key players. The lads will hope to bounce back next Tuesday with a home game against Scotstown.

U-16: Last week’s Under-16 fixture was postponed as a mark of respect to Mick Farrell.

U-14: Our Under-14 footballers fell to their first Division One league defeat of the season when they lost to Killanny last Saturday. An understrength team managed to rack up 1-17, but the concession of some soft goals allowed the hosts to finish strongly and steal the win. The Division Five team were at home to Scotstown last night (Wednesday): result on website.

U-12: Our Under-12 Division 2B team had a good win at home to Rockcorry last Tuesday evening. A first-half hat-trick by Craig Cooney helped our lads take an eight-point lead (5-2 to 2-3), with Shay Cooney and Adam McGarry also on the mark. Those three players did the damage on the scoring front once again in the second half, while Dean Doherty also got in on the act and every player contributed well in general play. The final score was 8-8 to 4-5. The Division 1A game against Latton has been moved to Tuesday; see website for result. Both U-12 teams are away this Saturday; Division 1A v Scotstown at 1.15 and Division 2B at noon v Cremartin.

Team and scorers: Che Treanor; Nathan Lavery, Liam Conway; James McKenny, Ryan McSkeane; Dean Doherty (1-1), Ryan Leonard; Craig Cooney (3-2), Shay Cooney (3-0); Adam McGarry (1-5, 0-1f), James Corley.

Subs: Conor Treanor, Evan Meehan, Brian McAteer.

U-10: In a busy time for our youngest players, our Under-10s and Under-8s have all been competing in blitzes in recent weeks, where they have been doing well and showing a lot of promise for the future.

Umbrellas: Monaghan Harps umbrellas have been selling well in recent weeks and there are just a few still available, but a new order will soon be made. Contact Séamus McManus at 086 8167928 for more information.

Good luck: Best of luck to Neil McAdam, Conor Galligan, Fearghal McMahon, minor captain Kevin Loughran and the Monaghan senior and minor footballers in Sunday’s Ulster final double-header in Clones. Muineachán Abú! 

Hurling:

Juveniles: Our U-12s had a 0-14 to 0-4 win over Cootehill on Monday evening, and our U-16s followed this up with their own 5-10 to 3-8 victory. Two very impressive performances. Well done to all involved. Next fixture for both teams is away to Carrick on Monday at 6.45 and 8pm respectively. Training continues every Sunday morning for all age groups.

Senior Hurling Championship Report: The Harps travelled to Clontibret on Thursday night last and left having to share the points. In a game that will surely go down as a point dropped, the Harps got off to a bright start. In truth, the Harps could have built themselves a commanding lead in the opening ten minutes, only to find themselves a point down, before Ross Corbett levelled things up. Clontibret tagged on another couple of scores and the Harps were really left to rue their misses as they went in at half-time four points down. The Harps again dominated play in the early stages of the second half with points from Niall Hahessy and Conor Curley, but Clontibret were equally keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Clontibret had managed to re-open the four point gap, before Alan Ryan struck for the Harps’ goal. This was a much-needed score, which again swung the balance of play in the favour of the Harps. However, unfortunately, this never materialised into deserved scores. A Maurice McKenna point from play was followed by a converted point from Aodhán Óg McAnespie to draw the teams level with five to go. However, both teams missed opportunities in the remaining minutes and had to settle for sharing the spoils on a scoreline of 0-11 to 1-8.

The Harps travelled next to St Mary’s Park for a rescheduled fixture against Castleblayney on Sunday. A much depleted team suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of a ruthless Blayney side. Our next championship game is at home against Inniskeen tonight (Thursday) at 8pm.

Condolences: Everyone at the club would like to express their sincere condolences to the family of Mick Farrell. Mick’s passing is indeed a loss to the GAA community of Monaghan Harps as a whole. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Ladies: Senior and minor training continues on Friday at 6.30pm.

U-14 & U-16 training times Thursdays 7-8 and Saturdays 10.30-11.30. Please contact Gerard, Catherine or John for further details. Our remaining U-16 games are away to Magheracloone and Carrickmacross. The U-16 Ronan Leonard memorial blitz is on Saturday, August 3. 

No Under-10 and Under-12 training this Saturday. The U-12 competition continues on Tuesday night with a home game v Aghabog. Our remaining U-12 league games are away to Tyholland on Monday at 7pm and at home to Emyvale on July 29 at 7pm. Some of the U-12s will also be participating in the Ulster blitz this Saturday.

Well done to Yvonne Connell, Muireann O’Rourke, Mickey Morgan and the entire Monaghan ladies senior panel and management as they became 2013 Ulster Champions last Sunday when they defeated Tyrone in Derry. Get well soon wishes are extended to Yvonne Connell who sustained an injury during the win at the weekend.

Best wishes to Muireann O’Rourke (Captain), Danielle Mulligan, Eimear O’Rourke, Tiarna Lavelle, David Mee and the entire Monaghan ladies minor panel and management as they play Laois this Saturday in Ashbourne at 2pm in the All-Ireland Minor B semi-final.

Well done to Emma Clerkin, Shauna Hetherington, Eimear O’Rourke (Captain) and the entire Monaghan ladies U-16 panel and management as they defeated Tyrone last Saturday at Gavan Duffy Park to qualify for the Ulster Final. A big thank you to all the helpers on Saturday also.

The Ladies club extends their deepest sympathies to Mick Farrell’s wife Marie, their children, grandchildren and extended family on the recent sad passing of Mick.  Mick had attended our Abbey Fanning memorial 7’s at the beginning of June this year, enjoying the sunshine and the football throughout the day. We did not realise it at the time but we were honoured to have this club legend in attendance at our most recent ladies club event.  But Mick has always been around since the Ladies Club formed in 1991 and for many years beforehand too! We used to also book our pitches for games and training through Mick and he was always happy to help and chat as the computer got going!  He will be sadly missed but it was an honour to have known him.