On Saturday last both our U14 and U16 hurling development squads took part in the National Hurling Blitzes which were held in Templeport in Cavan and Cloghan respectively.

Our U16`s played in Cloghan on a fine day for hurling. Unfortunately due to four teams pulling out at the last minute it left only three teams in the competition. The teams were Louth, Longford and Monaghan. Monaghan played Longford in their first match and with Longford having played Louth prior to our game they were sharper and held out for a comfortable win. In the second match we played Louth and again another slow start cost Monaghan and we were playing catch up all the game. A big performance in the second half wasn’t enough and Louth held out for a 9 point win.

Our U14`s done very well over in Templeport, Co. Cavan. In the first game Monaghan were comfortable winners over Leitrim. In the second game Monaghan and Louth played out a very exciting draw. Monaghan then bet Donegal in the final group to secure a semi-final place against Cavan. In a tight semi-final Monaghan ran out winners by a goal. Then in the final Monaghan were up against a strong Louth team. Strong performances from Padraig Mc Gahon, Dylan Mc Aree and Nathan O Donoghue were unfortunately not enough to secure the victory for Monaghan. An old saying “Goals wins Games” certainly applied here as Louth won on a score line of 03:02 – 0:05.

Monaghan Coaching and Games would like to thank all the players and parents for all the effort so far through the year. We hope to arrange a winter programme over the next few weeks and we will be in touch soon with the details. Also we would like to thank Pauric Dowdall, Patrick Boyle, Brian Connolly and Jim Dalton for helping out with both squads.