Monaghan drew with Down at Newry in their opening Allianz Football League Division Two game on Sunday. After leading by six points at half-time, Monaghan were reeled in by Down in the second half and had to settle for a share of the spoils. See match report.

The county Under-21s made a winning start to the Shamrock Cup on Monday night. Monaghan trailed Louth by a point at half-time in Cloghan, but with David Freeman proving accurate in front of goal, they dug out a 0-10 to 0-8 win. A number of players were unavoidably absent on the night, but Monaghan were able to line out with the following starting team: David Kirk; Jason Murphy, Dónal Courtney, Fergal Malone; Ryan Wylie, Conor Boyle, Shane Conlon; Johnny McGuigan, Mel Boyce; Cillian Cromwell, Pádraic Keenan, Michael Galligan; Ryan McAnespie, Mark McGuirk, David Freeman.

Largy College qualified for the semi-finals of the Ulster Vocational Schools senior competition, the Markey Cup, with a 5-11 to 3-10 win over Newry SRC on Thursday. Michael Tierney (two), Shane Mohan, John McGuirk and Killian Mooney were the goal-scorers for the Clones school.

Inniskeen started the Quinn’s Corner Ulster Club Intermediate Football League with a one-point win over Doire Trasna from Derry, while Doohamlet’s Ulster SFL opener was postponed, as was Monaghan’s Ladies NFL game against Dublin.