Fixtures: Saturday, May 7: SFL v Scotstown (Home) at 7pm; Under-14 FL Division One v Latton (Away) at 12pm; Under-14 FL Division Five v Scotstown (Away) at 3pm

Sunday, May 8: MHL Final v Cootehill in Truagh at 12pm

Tuesday, May 10: MFL Division One v Aughnamullen (Home) at 7.30pm

Wednesday, May 11: RFL Division Three v Killeevan (Home) at 7.30pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 2, 5, 6 and 19. Jackpot of €5,000 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Paudge Connolly c/o Ann Treanor; €40 Kirsty McEntee c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 Trevor Brannigan c/o Jim Dalton (Hurling Club); €40 Maggie Deery c/o Paddy Donnelly. Jackpot for Sunday, May 8 is €5,100 and Monica and Paudge Connolly are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in our refurbished clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome.

 

Seniors: Our senior footballers host Scotstown this Saturday evening at 7pm. All support welcome.

Darkness into Light:

Final preparations are underway for our third time to host Darkness into Light Monaghan, which takes place at 4.15am this Saturday morning, May 7. Thanks to everyone who has helped out at pre-registration and t-shirt collection, which continues in our clubhouse this Wednesday and Thursday (7pm-9pm), followed by a final meeting for all volunteers on Thursday. Please come along and be part of this special event, which is the main fundraiser for Pieta House, the centre for the prevention of self-harm/suicide. Keep an eye on social media for updates and information in the run-up to Saturday morning.

 

Reserves: We got through the first round of the RFC O’Duffy Cup with a 0-13 to 3-3 win at home to Emyvale last Sunday. Éimhín Morahan, Liam Hahessy and Dylan McKenna were on target in the first half, at the end of which we trailed by 1-2 to 0-4, but despite giving away another couple of soft goals, we managed to dig out a narrow win, with Éimhín, Liam, Nicholas Treanor, Robbie Moyna and subs Dean Fanning, Cónall McKenna and Brendan McQuaid kicking points.

Team and scorers: Darragh Hannon; Paul Smyth, Robbie Moyna (0-1), David Lowry; Francis Lynch, Niall Treanor, Aidan Connell; James McKenna, Éimhín Morahan (0-3); Conor Forde, Nicholas Treanor (0-2, 1f), Shane Coyle; Liam Hahessy (0-3, 1f), Dylan McKenna (0-1), Evan Doherty.

Subs: Dean Fanning (0-1) for D McKenna, Cónall McKenna (0-1) for Doherty, Brendan McQuaid (0-1) for Connell.

We exited the McKeown Cup, however, with Friday’s home defeat against Oram. We were 1-4 to 0-6 down at half-time and although we remained in contention through to the end, Oram held on for a 2-11 to 1-12 win.

Team: Darragh Hannon; Conor Flynn, Robbie Moyna (Capt.), Niall McManus; Conor Forde, James McKenna, Ahmed Gamal; Pat Meehan, Francis Lynch; Ruairí Forde, Colm Shalvey, Dessie McGarry; Reece Treanor, Dylan McKenna, David Carey.

Subs: Cónall McKenna for Shalvey, Jamie Shields for Carey, Aidan Connell for Gamal, Conor Duffy for Treanor.

We host Killeevan in the RFL Division Three next Wednesday.

 

Know Your Sport: Following wins for Leicester in the English Premier League and Mark Selby in the World Snooker Championship, there are eight entrants leading the way with three points in our Know Your Sport prediction competition.

 

Minors: Our minor footballers had a hard-earned win at home to Magheracloone last Tuesday. Points by Shane McMahon, Jack Deery, Adam O’Neill and Ethan Murphy had the Harps narrowly ahead at half-time and Ethan added a great goal in the second half, while Ben Kearns-Flynn added his name to the list of scorers and some determined defending kept Magheracloone at bay for a 1-9 to 0-9 victory. The lads are away to Corduff this evening (Tuesday), while next week’s game is at home to Aughnamullen.

Team: Dylan McAree; Zach Mallen, Aidan Burns, Thomas Croarkin; Niall Ward, Jamie Shields, Niall McManus; Ben Kearns-Flynn, Shane McMahon; Oisín Fagan, Jack Deery, Ethan Murphy; Nathan O’Donoghue, James Bourke, Adam O’Neill.

 

U-16: Our Under-16 footballers are away to Truagh this Thursday at 7.30.

 

U-14: Our Under-14 Division Five had a good win at home to Emyvale last Wednesday. Our lads kicked 4-8 in an impressive first-half performance, with Daragh Croarkin, Mike Bradley, Brian McAteer, Adam McGarry, Dáire Sheridan and Jamie Coyle all on target. Emyvale were improved in the second half, but a Shay Cooney goal and good points by Daragh and Kevin Moran made the final score 5-11 to 2-5 in our favour.

Team and scorers: Conor Treanor; Cathal Nally, James Curley; Mark McManus, Daragh Croarkin (1-2); Mike Bradley (0-2, 1f), Brian McAteer (Capt., 2-1); Adam McGarry (0-2), Dáire Sheridan (0-2); Jamie Coyle (1-1), Ben Myers.

Subs used: Ché Treanor, Jake Power, Adam McBride, Dean Conlon, Diarmuid Magee, Shay Cooney (1-0), Kevin Moran (0-1).

Our Division One team had a hard-earned win away to Inniskeen on Thursday. Points by Dylan Ballantine, Eoghan McGinnity and Brian McAteer and a Josh Maguire goal got us off to a good start, but Inniskeen came back strongly, meaning we needed scores from Eoghan, Brian and Dean Doherty to lead by just two points (1-6 to 1-4) at half-time, having played with the wind. Dylan found the net after the restart and a combination of good defensive work and key scores from Eoghan and Terence McDonald earned us two points.

Team and scorers: Daragh Croarkin; James McKenny, Cathal Nally; Kevin Moran, Tiarnán O’Rourke, Liam Conway; Dylan Ballantine (Capt., 1-1), Dean Doherty (0-1f); Josh Maguire (1-0), Eoghan McGinnity (0-5, 1f, 1 ’45), Terence McDonald (0-2); Adam McGarry, Brian McAteer (0-2, 1f).

Subs used: Mike Bradley, Shay Cooney, Jake Power.

Both teams are in action again on Saturday; Division One away to Latton at 12 noon, Division Five away to Scotstown at 3pm.

 

U-12: We were represented by our two Under-12 football teams at the Spring League finals day in Cloghan on Monday. Our Zone A team finished the competition on a high with a fine win over Magheracloone. In difficult conditions, Fionán Ó Gallchóir, Josh Kelly, Cian Bradley, Seán Callan, Jake McConnon and Luke McManus were all on target in the first half to give the Harps a 10-4 lead. A great effort while playing into the elements in the second half saw our lads stay well clear, thanks to some excellent defending and further scores from Fionán, Luke, Seán and Josh.

Team and scorers: Senan Cudden; Patrick Dooley-Duffy, Gary Devlin; Scarlett Herron, Seán Callan (0-4, 1f); Jake McConnon (0-2), Luke McManus (0-3); Shea Swift, Cian Bradley (0-1); Fionán Ó Gallchóir (1-7), Josh Kelly (0-2).

Subs used: Ethan Ballantine, Oisín Reilly, Dáire Conlon, Shane Moran, Aidan McGeough, Jack Lynch, Oisín Treanor.

Our Zone B team lost out to Scotstown. The lads led narrowly after playing with the wind, helped by scores from Ethan Ballantine, Oisín Treanor and Oisín Reilly, but Scotstown gained the upper hand in the second half.

Team: Jake McConnon; Mark Clerkin, Jack Lynch; Dáire Conlon, Max Mallen; Ethan Ballantine, Senan Cudden; Oisín Treanor, Morgan Coyle; Liam McCabe, Oisín Reilly.

Subs used: Aidan McGeough, Gregory O’Connell, Jack Corrigan, Mark Corrigan, Shane Moran, Aidan Cunningham, Ross Finnegan, Jordan Crampton.

Well done to all involved. Both teams now look forward to the start of the Under-12 Football Leagues later this month.

 

Blitz: We hosted an U-10/U-8 blitz last Saturday morning, when we welcomed teams from Castleblayney, Clontibret, Donaghmoyne and Scotstown to Gavan Duffy Park. A torrential shower of rain and hail called a temporary halt to proceedings for the U-8s, but thankfully, the sunshine returned in time to allow the games to resume. Thanks as always to everyone involved and to Gerry and Deborah Lynch for their work in organising the blitz.

 

Dates to remember: Our Golf Classic is now set for Friday, June 10, with our Street Collection also to take place in June (more details later). The Ladies Club’s Abbey Fanning Sevens Tournament will be played on Saturday, May 28.

 

Membership: Registration fees (€20 for adults, €50 for a family) for 2016 are overdue and must be paid as soon as possible. All players and parents of juveniles are asked to ensure that their membership is paid.

                                                                                        

Pitch bookings: All pitch bookings for 2016 for training or matches must be made via 086 1957155. Training slots have been allocated and any changes must be notified in advance.

 

Gavan Duffy Park: The refurbished Monaghan Harps clubhouse is available to book for functions. Contact Jimmy Croarkin on 087 1249635 or Pádraig Callan on 087 4515206 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience.

 

Cúl Camp: We will once again host a Kellogg’s Monaghan GAA Cúl Camp from July 11-15. Registration is open online now.

 

Sympathy: The club sends sympathy to Seán McKenna and family on the death of his aunt, Madge McKenna. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

 

Hurling:

Juveniles: Training for all juvenile age groups continues every Sunday at 12pm in Rooskey.

 

U-14 League: Our U-14s were unlucky last Monday as they lost by two points to Castleblayney on a 4-4 to 4-6 scoreline.

 

Minors: In a busy week for our minors, after losing out on a 2-12 to 1-9 scoreline away to Cootehill on Wednesday evening, we made a worthwhile journey to Carrick on Sunday morning where an excellent performance earned a 2-6 to 1-12 win. A dominant first-half performance ensured we led by 1-07 to 0-0 at the break; Lochlainn Power with the three-pointer for the Harps. Carrick were not to go quietly though and a gritty second-half display asked questions of the Harps. In the end, our lads came up with all the right answers with notable performances from Luke Mulligan, Conor Duffy and Lochlainn Power.

Team and scorers: Seán Grant; Dylan McAree, Conor Duffy; Kieran McQuaid, Cathal Power (0-7), Luke Mulligan; Niall McManus, Aidan Burns (0-2); Stefan McQuaid, Mark Murphy (0-1), Nathan O’Donoghue (0-1); Andrew Connolly, Lochlainn Power (1-1).

Our postponed fixture against Castleblayney is down to be played this Sunday in Rooskey at 12pm.

 

Senior: Our seniors lost out by 1-12 to 2-14 against Craobh Rua, Camlough last Thursday in the Silver Hill Foods Development League. With a bye week upcoming, we next play Carrick away on Thursday, May 12 in the senior league.