Our own Kevin Loughran (Monaghan captain) before the start of Sunday’s All-Ireland MFC final against Mayo.
Fixtures: Thursday, August 29: SHL Semi-Final v Inniskeen (Away) at 7pm; Under-16 FL Division One v Clontibret (Away) at 7pm; Under-14 FL Division Five Play-Off v Clones/Currin in Clones at 6.45pm
Saturday, August 31: Under-12 FL Division 1A Shield Semi-Final v Magheracloone (Home) at 12pm; Under-12 FL Division 2B Final v Donaghmoyne in Aughnamullen at 2pm
Monday, September 2: Under-16 HL Semi-Final v Castleblayney (Home) at 6.30pm
Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 2, 10, 21 and 23. Jackpot of €1,500 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Sheila Treanor c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 Sally Cuddy c/o Ciarán Cuddy; €40 Margaret Grant c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Stephanie McGarry (direct debit). Jackpot for Sunday, September 1 is €1,600 and Rose Hughes and Noel Hennessy are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome.
Seniors: Our senior footballers had a mixed week in the league. First up, we let a good lead slip at home to Scotstown last Wednesday, when a Shane Smyth goal helped us into the driving seat, only for the visitors to come back to win by the narrowest of margins (3-9 to 1-14). Another closely-contested game followed in Clontibret on Saturday, when Neil McAdam scored our goal in a 1-13 apiece draw. The championship game against Ballybay has been fixed for Scotstown on Sunday week, September 8, at 6pm.
Draw: We are taking part in a ‘Sportspersons Dream’ draw, which offers some amazing prizes, particularly for sports fans. All club members are invited to our launch night in the clubhouse at 8pm this Friday, when we will have the Anglo-Celt and Liam Murray Cups along with our county players. Keep in touch with the club notes, website and social media for full details.
U-12: Saturday is a big day for our Under-12 footballers. The Division 1A team are first in action when they host Magheracloone in the shield semi-final at 12 noon, before the Division 2B team contest the cup final against Donaghmoyne in Aughnamullen at 2pm. Best of luck to all involved. Please support the lads!
Minors: Our minor footballers played a rescheduled league game at home to Truagh on Friday, when both teams agreed to field without county players. A goal by Evan Morahan and points by Evan, Francis Lynch, Jason McHugh and Ciarán McQuaid had our lads ahead by 1-6 to 0-4 at half-time. Evan added four points in the second half and Darragh Hannon went forward to convert a free, meaning that a late goal by Truagh made no real difference to the final score (1-11 to 1-6). This win secured second place in the league, meaning we will have home advantage in the semi-final against Magheracloone.
Team and scorers: Darragh Hannon (0-1f); Conor Burns, Mustafa Gamal, Darragh Treanor; Ahmed Gamal, Turlough Clerkin, Tiarnán Bramley; James McKenna, Niall Treanor; Carl Foentjies; Evan Morahan (1-6, 0-1f), Francis Lynch (0-2); John Mulligan, Jason McHugh (0-1), Ciarán McQuaid (0-1).
Subs used: Dónal McCarthy, James Keelaghan, Marc Brennan.
U-16: The Under-16 footballers lost out at home to Seán McDermotts last Thursday and they are away to Clontibret in their final league game this Thursday.
U-14: Our Under-14 Division One team came out on top in a thriller away to Truagh last Saturday. Both teams hit some scores from the top drawer in a high-quality match, but our lads always looked the more likely winners and they finished on the right side of a 2-19 to 4-11 scoreline to secure top spot in the league table. A goal by Conor McCrystal and points by Ethan Murphy, Michael Mulligan, Aidan Burns and Conor had our lads ahead by 1-6 to 0-2 by the end of the first quarter, but a point by Ethan was our only score of the second quarter and Truagh hit two goals to draw level at 1-7 to 2-4. The Harps again gained the upper hand after the restart, with Ben Kearns-Flynn kicking four points, Michael adding three and Nathan O’Donoghue also on target, although a late goal by Truagh reduced the gap to a point (1-15 to 3-8) going into the last quarter. Corey McArdle then scored our second goal and even though we conceded another three-pointer, scores by Michael, Nathan, Conor and Soky John were enough to close out a hard-earned win. another tnd Nathan O’ Our opponents in the semi-final on Saturday week will be either Killanny or Magheracloone.
Team and scorers: Dylan McAree; Ultan O’Rourke, Soky John (0-1); Anthony Greenan, Thomas Croarkin, Niall Ward; Aidan Burns (0-1), Seán McKenna; Nathan O’Donoghue (0-2), Ethan Murphy (Capt., 0-3, 1f), Michael Mulligan (0-6); Conor McCrystal (1-2), Ben Kearns-Flynn (0-4).
Subs used: Colin Peppard, Corey McArdle (1-0).
Meanwhile, the Division Five team lost out to Scotstown last Saturday, meaning they finished in a three-way tie for second place. They take on Clones/Currin in the first play-off this Thursday in Clones, with the winners facing another match away to Scotstown on Monday.
County minors: Hard luck to team captain Kevin Loughran, Fearghal McMahon and the Monaghan minor footballers, who lost to a strong Mayo team in last Sunday’s All-Ireland MFC semi-final at Croke Park. Well done to all involved on a very successful year for this team, with our lads playing an essential part.
Breakfast morning: Tickets are now on sale from the clubhouse and committee members for our big breakfast on Sunday week, September 8. Tickets cost €10 for adults and €5 for Under-12s.
Clubhouse: Anyone interested in taking part in the local pool league, please contact Liadhan Treanor at 086 7837204.
Hurling:
Juveniles: Our U-12s were unlucky to lose out by two points away to Carrickmacross on Monday evening, meaning they narrowly miss out on the final.
The U-16s are at home to Castleblayney in their league semi-final next Monday, September 2, at 6.30pm. Please come along and show your support for the lads. Training for all juveniles on Sunday morning at 12 noon.
County minors: Good luck to Tiarnán Bramley, Ciarán McQuaid, Conor O’Neill, Conor Burns, Paul Bannon, their coach Alan Ryan and the Monaghan minors, who will take on Mayo in the All-Ireland Minor ‘C’ Championship Final on Saturday week, September 7. The game will take place in Ballinamore, Leitrim with a throw-in time of 3pm.
Seniors: Our seniors had a 5-18 to 1-7 win over Castleblayney last Thursday evening. They now progress to the league semi-final, away to Inniskeen this evening (Thursday) at 7pm. There remains the possibility that this fixture could be postponed until Monday, however, at Inniskeen’s request.
By cshalvey Tue 27th Aug
