Fixtures: Saturday, September 28: SFC Semi-Final v Clontibret in Clones at 3.30pm; Under-16 HC Final v Carrickmacross in Clontibret at 11am

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 1, 4, 16 and 19. Jackpot of €1,900 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Tom Gruddy c/o Barry Sullivan; €40 Éanna Finlay c/o Joe Finlay (Hurling Club); €40 Maureen O’Donoghue c/o Michael O’Donoghue; €40 Marie Finlay c/o Joe Finlay (HC). Jackpot for Sunday, September 29 is €2,000 and Mary and Fergus Coyle are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. Please continue to support our club Lotto! Anyone who can volunteer a small amount of time to sell tickets in the shopping centre on Saturday is asked to contact Maria McKenna on 086 1057725.

 

Seniors: Our senior footballers qualified for the SFC semi-finals with a 3-10 to 0-13 win over Magheracloone under lights in Inniskeen last Friday night. It was score-for-score for most of the first half, with Shane Smyth (three), Nicholas Treanor (two) and Dónal Hahessy on target for us, but Magheracloone held a slender 0-7 to 0-6 interval lead. Liam Hahessy started the second half in style with a goal and a point and although Magheracloone stayed in touch, points from Shane Smyth, Gary White and Nicholas Treanor kept us ahead, before Nicholas and Liam bagged goals to send us through.

Team and scorers: Cónall McKenna; Niall Hahessy, David Hughes, Gareth Treanor; Conor Galligan, Neil McAdam, Kevin Loughran; Stephen Driver, Gary White (Capt., 0-1); Paul Rushe, Dónal Hahessy (0-1f), Emmett McArdle; Liam Hahessy (2-1), Shane Smyth (0-4), Nicholas Treanor (1-3, 0-3f).

Subs: Shane Coyle for Rushe (37 mins), Nicholas Scott for Loughran (45), Peter Coyle for Driver (54), Dean Fanning for L Hahessy (55).

The semi-final takes place against Clontibret in Clones this Saturday at 3.30pm. Please come out to support our senior team!

 

U-14: Our Under-14 Division One team completed a brilliant double when they won the league final last Saturday against Inniskeen in Oram. In a hard-fought game, our lads started well with points by Nathan O’Donoghue and Conor McCrystal and although Inniskeen replied, Conor’s second and a Seán McKenna effort made it 0-4 to 0-1 by the end of the first quarter. Seán punched home the opening goal and Conor added a brace of points to move our lads 1-6 to 0-4 ahead at half-time and although Ethan Murphy found the net early in the third quarter, Inniskeen hit the next three points to stay in touch at 2-6 to 0-7. The Harps defence stood up to great effect in the final quarter to anything Inniskeen threw at them, while Ethan, Michael Mulligan and Ultan O’Rourke kicked crucial points to secure victory on a scoreline of 2-9 to 0-9. Congratulations to the players and their management team of Michael O’Donoghue, Thomas McCabe and Ciarán Mulligan for this fantastic achievement!

Team and scorers: Dylan McAree; Soky John, Anthony Greenan; Niall Ward, Ultan O’Rourke (0-1f), Thomas Croarkin; Aidan Burns (Joint Capt.), Seán McKenna (1-1); Nathan O’Donoghue (0-1), Ethan Murphy (1-1), Ben Kearns-Flynn; Conor McCrystal (0-4, 1f), Michael Mulligan (0-1).

Subs: Colin Peppard, Corey McArdle, James Bourke, Zach Mallen, Adam O’Neill, Jamie Shields.

 

Recreational tournament: Our recreational football tournament takes place for its second year on Saturday week, October 5. Keep in touch with club notes, website, etc. for more details and please keep the day free if you can!

 

Minors: Our Minor Football Championship hopes were ended with a semi-final loss to Magheracloone in Aughnamullen last Saturday. Evan Morahan (two) and Francis Lynch kicked early points in an even start to the match and although Magheracloone then found the net from a penalty, Fearghal McMahon sprung to life with three in a row and further points by Evan (two), John Mulligan and Francie had the Harps ahead by 0-10 to 1-5 at half-time. Evan added the first point of the second half and he was also unlucky not to score a goal, as was Ciarán McQuaid, who had hit the post just before the interval. Magheracloone rallied to draw level and even though Evan hit back from a brace of frees, the Mitchells reeled off an unanswered 2-6 to put the game beyond the reach of our lads. A Kevin Loughran point and a Jason McHugh goal finished the scoring, but it wasn’t enough for our lads to avoid a 3-14 to 1-14 defeat. The lads will play Magheracloone again in the league semi-finals at Gavan Duffy Park on Saturday week.

Team and scorers: Darragh Hannon; Mustafa Gamal, Dónal McCarthy, Darragh Treanor; Niall Treanor, Kevin Loughran (0-1f), Tiarnán Bramley; Turlough Clerkin, James McKenna; Carl Foentjies, Evan Morahan (0-7, 4f), Francis Lynch (0-2); John Mulligan (0-1), Fearghal McMahon (0-3), Ciarán McQuaid.

Subs: Jason McHugh (1-0) for McQuaid (43 mins), Conor Burns for Clerkin (48), Ahmed Gamal for D Treanor (inj., 53).

 

Draw: Tickets are selling well for a ‘Sportspersons Dream’ draw, which offers some amazing prizes, particularly for sports fans. Tickets are on sale now from club members and online – see link on our website.

 

U-11 tournament: Last Saturday morning, our Under-11s took part in the BC Blitz in Emyvale. In the Cup competition, our lads got off to a disappointing start with a loss to Currin, but wins over Castleblayney and Pomeroy saw them finish in a three-way tie for first place in the group. The lads were out of luck, however, as they were edged out on the skills award scores. Meanwhile, a young group in the Shield were up against strong opposition in Éire Óg, Tyholland and Roslea. Like the other team, this Harps side improved as the competition went on, playing some fine football in the last game against Roslea. Well done to all involved. Our players on the day were: Daragh Croarkin, Craig Cooney, Dean Doherty, Ryan McSkeane, Liam Conway, Adam McGarry, Shay Cooney, Tiernan O’Rourke, Brian McAteer, Ben Myers, Evan Meehan, Mark McManus, Luke McManus, Jake McConnon, Che Treanor, Cian Brennan, Diarmuid McGee, Conor Treanor, Jamie Cooney, Scott Cooney, Dean Conlon, Caolán McKenna.

 

Sponsored walk: The juvenile club’s annual sponsored walk and fun morning takes place this Saturday, September 28. All welcome for what promises to be a good day.

 

Gavan Duffy Park: Our clubhouse and surrounding area received another commendation in the recent Tidy Towns report for Monaghan town. Well done to all involved and please continue to take pride in our club’s facilities.

 

Good luck: Best wishes from all at the club to Yvonne Connell, Muireann O’Rourke, Mickey Morgan and the Monaghan senior ladies footballers in Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Cork at Croke Park.

 

Hurling:

U-16: After falling to defeat against Carrickmacross in the league decider a couple of Sundays ago, our Under-16s will be aiming to ensure they gain some silverware when they take on the same opposition in the Championship Final this Saturday, at 11am in Clontibret.

Minors: After a break in the minor club hurling calendar, the Truagh Harps amalgamation got up and running again with a good victory away to Castleblayney last Sunday. Their 2-14 to 0-5 victory qualifies them for the final against either Clontibret or Carrick, who play their semi-final on October 6.

Seniors: Preparation continues for the Ulster Junior Semi-Final against Craobh Rua, Camlough (Armagh) on Sunday, October 6.

Sportsperson’s Dream: Club members are encouraged to keep up the effort in selling tickets for this fundraiser.

 

Ladies: Committee meeting for update on ticket sales is scheduled for this Wednesday, September 25 at 7pm in McElvaney’s Bar.

Our senior team beat Aghabog in our last game in the Reserve League last Friday. The team was Allison Treanor, Shauna Hetherington, Laura McManus (Capt.), Niamh Maguire (Vice-Capt.), Orla Whelan, Jennifer Treanor, Eimear O’Rourke, Éadaoin Maguire, Una Rooney, Orla Callan, Sinéad Maguire, Carla Doherty, Tara Reilly, Tessa Fleming, Stephanie Keenan and Gráinne Treanor. We now await the semi-finals of both the Division Two league and the Reserve league v Magheracloone. Training for seniors and minors continues and all players will be notified of training days and times by text.

Our minors played away to Emyvale last Tuesday.  The result was Harps 1-4 Emyvale 5-6. The team was Maria Ferguson (Capt.), Karla Clerkin, Hannah Clerkin, Claire Duffy, Niamh Tibby, Éadaoin Maguire, Carla Doherty, Emma Clerkin (0-1), Eimear O’Rourke (1-1), Aoife Corrigan, Danielle Mulligan, Aisling Ferguson (0-2), Emma Veale, Niamh Corrigan & Shauna Hetherington. The minors also played at home to Donaghmoyne. The result was Harps 1-9 Donaghmoyne 6-13. The team was Claire Duffy, Niamh Tibby, Hannah Clerkin, Carla Doherty, Shauna Hetherington, Éadaoin Maguire, Eimear O’Rourke (Capt., 1-7), Emma Clerkin (0-1), Karla Clerkin, Aoife Corrigan, Emma Veale (0-1), Tara Reilly and Niamh Corrigan. Our remaining minor fixtures are against Truagh and Scotstown.

No fixtures this weekend due to the Ladies All-Ireland Finals.

U-10, U-12, U-14 & U-16 girls football for 2013 has now finished. For any further events, fundraising or information for the remainder of the year all parents will receive a text.

The €30 club tickets for the upkeep and maintenance of the facilities at Gavan Duffy Park have been distributed for sale amongst all club members. We request all Ladies Club players past and present, management, committee members and parents to support this fundraiser.

Four tickets to the Ladies All-Ireland Final are for sale through the Ladies Club at a cost of €25 each.  Please contact Allo on 087 9549339 if you wish to purchase.

Best wishes to our own Yvonne Connell, Muireann O’Rourke and Michael Morgan in the All-Ireland Senior Championship final this weekend v Cork. All roads lead to Croke Park on Sunday so please get behind this team as they attempt to bring the Brendan Martin Cup back across Aclint Bridge into Monaghan for the first time since 1997.