Fixtures: Friday, August 14: Under-12 FL Division Four Final v Corduff at 6.45pm; Under-12 FL Division Five Final v Castleblayney at 7.50pm * Both in Drumhowan

Sunday, August 16: SFL v Scotstown (Away) at 12.30pm

Monday, August 17: Under-14 HL Shield S-F v Cootehill (Home) at 7.15pm

Tuesday, August 18: MFL Division One Shield v Carrickmacross (Away) at 7.15pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 7, 11, 15 and 28. Jackpot of €1,300 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Rosalind Hennessy c/o Noel Hennessy; €40 Rose Donnelly c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Amy Dalton c/o Jim Dalton (Hurling Club); €40 Kathleen Reid c/o Neil McGinn. Jackpot for Sunday, August 16 is €1,400 and Tessie Connolly and Seán and Kathleen Boyle are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome.

 

Harps Summer Camp: Our second Harps Summer Camp takes place at Gavan Duffy Park next week (Monday, August 17 to Friday, August 21 from 10am to 2pm each day), again featuring football, hurling, handball and music for boys and girls aged up to 12. We are looking forward to another enjoyable week. Application forms will be available at our Saturday-morning coaching session this weekend and they are also available now on our website. Contact Una Forde on 087 6107329 for more information.

 

Reserves: Well done to our O’Duffy Cup team, who secured promotion back to the Reserve Football League Division 1A by winning the Division 1B Final against Ballybay in Tyholland last Sunday. We took charge in the first half, with Éimhín Morahan leading the scoring, including the only goal. Robbie Moyna, Dónal McCarthy, Niall Greenan and Dean Fanning were also on target to help us lead by 1-7 to 0-4 at half-time. Éimhín and Michael Galligan kicked the scores that kept us out in front throughout the second half, while Shane Coyle chipped in with a 45-metre free and at the other end, some excellent defending kept Ballybay out, giving us a 1-13 to 0-11 win. Paul Rushe accepted the Hugh Brady Cup in the absence of Dean Fanning, who had to go off injure. We wish Dean a speedy recovery. Congratulations to Declan McArdle, Jimmy Croarkin and the players and thanks also to Brian Lenehan for his help on the day of the final.

Team and scorers: Ronan McGann; Robbie Moyna (0-1), Gareth Treanor, Mustafa Gamal; Niall Treanor, Aodhán Óg McAnespie, Michael Galligan (0-3); Dónal McCarthy (0-1), Shane Coyle (0-1); Conor Forde, Niall Greenan (0-1), Paul Rushe (Vice-Capt.); John Mulligan, Dean Fanning (Capt., 0-2), Éimhín Morahan (1-4).

Subs: James McKenna for Greenan (inj.), Turlough Clerkin for Fanning (inj.), Paul Smyth for Rushe, Ahmed Gamal for Forde.

We are due to play Killeevan in the RFL Division Three Final next week; check online for details of the fixture.

 

Seniors: The Senior Football League game resumed with a win in last Wednesday’s star game at home to Inniskeen. Kevin Loughran scored an early goal, but our only other scores of the first half were points from Dónal Hahessy (two) and Nicholas Scott, which meant it was level at 1-3 to 0-6 at the interval. Points by Liam Hahessy (two), Gary White, Dónal and Fearghal McMahon got us off to a good start in the second half, only for Inniskeen to rally and edge ahead inside the final quarter. Stephen Driver, Gareth Treanor, Dean Fanning and Fearghal replied for our lads, before a brace from Dónal secured a 1-14 to 1-10 win. We host Truagh tonight (Wednesday) and we are away to Scotstown on Sunday. The championship will begin on the weekend ending August 23 – see next week’s notes or online for details of our first-round fixture against Castleblayney.

Team and scorers: Ashley White; Gareth Treanor (0-1), David Hughes, John Mulligan; Conor Galligan (Capt.), Nicholas Scott (0-1), Kevin Loughran (1-0); Stephen Driver (0-1), Peter Coyle; Nicholas Treanor, Dónal Hahessy (0-5, 2f), Dean Fanning (0-1); Liam Hahessy (0-2), Fearghal McMahon (0-2), Gary White (0-1).

 

Minors: Our minor footballers are away to Carrickmacross on Tuesday evening.

 

U-16: Our Under-16 footballers had a good win in a high-scoring game away to Donaghmoyne last Thursday (8-17 to 5-13). That made Monday’s rescheduled game at home to Inniskeen decisive in the shield competition. A goal by Oisín Fagan and points from Ethan Murphy, Thomas Croarkin and Conor McCrystal kept our lads in touch in a first half that ended with Inniskeen ahead by 1-5 to 1-4. The visitors would go on to win the second half by the same score, despite Conor, Thomas and Jamie Shields kicking points for the Harps lads. An Adam O’Neill goal set up a tight finish, but our lads fell just short on a 2-10 to 2-8 scoreline. Thanks to Michael O’Donoghue, Thomas McCabe, Brian Lenehan and the players for their efforts this year.

Team and scorers (v Inniskeen): Dylan McAree; Zach Mallen, Niall Ward, Ben Kearns-Flynn; Anthony Greenan, Ultan O’Rourke, Seán McKenna; Jamie Shields (0-1), Thomas Croarkin (0-3, 1f); Conor McCrystal (0-2), Ethan Murphy (0-2), Nathan O’Donoghue; Dylan Maguire, Oisín Fagan (1-0), Adam O’Neill (1-0).

Sub used: Conor McCarron.

 

U-14: Both of our Under-14 football teams have home games this evening (Thursday). Our Division Four team face Castleblayney, while the Division One game is a top-of-the-table clash with Carrickmacross.

 

U-12: All three of our Under-12 teams qualified for semi-finals last week. First up was the Division Five Cup Semi-Final away to Donaghmoyne last Wednesday. An excellent performance by our lads saw them take charge early on and power their way to a high-scoring win, with Luke McManus, Josh Kelly, Jamie Cooney, Che Treanor and James Curley all having very good games.

Our Division Four team came through an exciting Cup Semi-Final away to Doohamlet on Friday. We trailed by 1-6 to 0-3 at half-time, but came back to draw level by full-time, with Oisín Reilly, Michael McMorrow, Mark Clerkin, Scarlett Herron and Shea Swift to the fore. The Harps went on to win by 3-15 to 3-12 after extra-time. The finals of Division Four and Five will be played this Friday against Corduff and Castleblayney in Drumhowan. Good luck to all involved. All support welcome.

Meanwhile, our Division One team won their Shield semi-final at home to Emyvale. This was a fine team performance, which saw our midfielders set the foundations for victory, while our backs worked hard throughout to make Emyvale work hard for any score they got. Shay Cooney got two goals to help us lead by 2-7 to 0-2 at half-time, while a great point by Liam Conway was another highlight of the first 20 minutes. Our subs all made an impact also, with Conor Treanor and Josh Kelly kicking good scores, while Jake Power found the net twice in the last 20 minutes and Shay rounded off the scoring with a superb point from a sideline kick. We will play Magheracloone in the shield final: keep an eye on club notes and online for details.

Team and scorers (v Emyvale): Daragh Croarkin; Kevin Moran, Liam Conway (0-1); Mark McManus, Che Treanor; Tiarnán O’Rourke (Capt., 0-1), Nathan Lavery; Jamie Coyle (0-1), Shay Cooney (2-3, 0-1 s-l); Jamie Cooney (0-1), Jake Power (2-3).

Subs used: Josh Kelly (0-1), James Curley, Conor Treanor, Ben Myers, Diarmuid Magee, Dean Conlon.

 

Hard luck: To Neil McAdam and the Monaghan senior footballers on their defeat in last Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Tyrone at Croke Park. Well done to Neil and the team and management for their efforts and achievements this year, which saw them regain the Ulster title.

 

Vetting: Anyone who has received their Garda vetting clearance form is asked to provide a photocopy to Tommy McCabe.

 

Good luck: To Seán Callan, Eoghan and Louise McGinnity, Martin McEntee, Conor McDonnell and everyone from the Harps Handball Club involved in the World Handball Championships in Canada.

 

Gavan Duffy Park: The Monaghan Harps clubhouse is available to book for functions. Contact Jimmy Croarkin on 087 1249635 or Pádraig Callan on 087 2139188 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience. Membership cards for all paid-up club members are now available and can be collected on Sunday nights from 8pm to 10pm, as can Darkness into Light t-shirts for anyone who didn’t receive theirs on the morning of the event. All club members and team mentors are asked to take care with our facilities and ensure that lights are turned off and doors and gates are locked up.

 

 

Hurling:

U-12s: After victory over Castleblayney in the league semi-final we now take on Keady in the league final. Good luck to Jim and the whole squad. Please note the postponement of the league final due to Community Games competitions. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates. Good luck also to Aidan McKenna, Luke Aughey, Che Treanor, Kasper Ostrowski and Mark McManus who will represent the club in Croke Park next Monday as part of a hurling day.

U-14s: Our Under-14s played out their final group-stage fixture on Monday evening at home to Knockbridge. Knockbridge started the better and got themselves into a four point lead but our lads sparked into life through a Darragh Murray goal and quickly added a point to their tally while Knockbridge found the target themselves to go in four points up at half-time. Points were exchanged early in the second half before Knockbridge hit a purple patch and bagged a brace of goals but again our lads came back through relentless work in the back line and the likes of Stephen Ward and Breandán Óg Ó Dufaigh driving the team forward. A couple of scores followed, including a goal off the stick of Tristan Moyna. Knockbridge were finding their scores a little easier to come by, however, and in the end held a commanding lead on a scoreline of 2-7 to 6-8. We now progress to the shield semi-final at home to Cootehill next Monday (August 17) with throw-in at 7.15pm.

U-16s: Our match due to be played against East Cavan Gaels last weekend was cancelled. Well done to Dylan McAree who played on the Ulster hurling team that defeated Galway last Saturday in Garvaghey, Tyrone.

Minors: After a long summer break, minor hurling action returns this Sunday when we are at home to Truagh in the championship quarter-final at 12pm. The winners of this match will travel to face Carrickmacross the following Sunday (August 23) in the semi-final.

Best Wishes: The club would like to extend their best wishes to Joe Finlay on a speedy recovery