Fixtures: Friday, May 26: SFL v Castleblayney (Away) at 8pm

Saturday, May 27: U-12 FL Division Five v Scotstown (Away) at 3pm

Monday, May 29: U-12 FL Division One v Magheracloone (Away) at 7.30pm

Tuesday, May 30: U-14 FL Division One v Carrickmacross (Away) at 7pm; U-14 FL Division Five v Carrickmacross (Away) at 8.15pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 3, 15, 16 and 17. Jackpot of €1,700 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Orla Murphy (Enniskillen) c/o Barry Sullivan; €40 Peter McCrarren c/o Barry Sullivan; €40 Trisha, Jack & Calvin Duffy (Culloville) c/o Barry Sullivan; €40 Caitlin, Erin & Ewan Connolly (Clones) c/o Barry Sullivan. Jackpot for Sunday, May 28 is €1,800 and Helen and John Hahessy are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in our clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. Thanks to everyone for their support for our Lotto, which plays a critical role in our club’s funding. We ask all club members to continue to promote our Lotto as much as possible.

 

Seniors: We are away to Castleblayney in the County Monaghan Credit Unions Senior Football League on Friday at 8pm. All support welcome.

 

Thanks: To the club members who helped us host the Ladies Football Interprovincial Championships last Saturday. Gavan Duffy Park was in great condition as we hosted an enjoyable tournament, which was won by Ulster for the sixth year in a row.

 

Reserves: We had a busy weekend of Platinum Tanks Reserve Football League action, starting with Friday’s Division 1A game away to Latton. We fell five points down inside the first half, but after changing ends 2-4 to 0-7 behind, we closed to within two after the restart. Latton’s ability to score goals at key times proved decisive, however, as they ran out winners by 3-9 to 0-12.

Team: Dylan McAree; Johnny Sherry, Mustafa Gamal, Paul Smyth; Jamie Shields, Niall Greenan, Conor Forde; Peter Coyle, Aodhán Óg McAnespie (Capt.); Shane McMahon, Nicholas Treanor, Éimhín Morahan; Reece Treanor, Ben Kearns-Flynn, Colm Shalvey.

Subs: Paul Rushe for N Treanor, Conor O’Neill for R Treanor.

We lost out away to Carrickmacross in the RFL Division 2B on Sunday. We were depleted in numbers for this game, where a dominant Carrick side had a comfortable win.

Team: Dylan McAree; Conor Flynn, Ruairí Forde; Jamie Shields, Ciarán Garvey, Conor Forde (Capt.); Dylan McKenna, Dillon Duffy; Colm Shalvey, Ben Kearns-Flynn, Conor Duffy; Reece Treanor, Jason McHugh.

Sub: David Carey for McHugh.

 

Minors: The Minor Football League takes a break for the Leaving Cert exams before resuming on the first Tuesday in July. Congratulations to our minor hurlers on their league final win.

 

U-14: Our Under-14 teams had home wins over Magheracloone and Scotstown on Wednesday. Both teams are away to Carrickmacross next Tuesday: Division One at 7pm, Division Five at 8.15.

 

U-12s: Our Under-12 Division One team are away to Magheracloone on Monday evening. Before that, our Division Five team start their league campaign on Saturday in Scotstown at 3pm.

 

Féile: We will be hosting boys’ and girls’ U-14 teams for the John West Féile Peil na nÓg 2017 on the weekend of June 23-25. Meath boys’ champions Naomh Colmcille will be our guests. Our U-14 team’s fundraising ‘Marathon Match’ will be rescheduled for a later date. Thanks to everyone who contributed towards Féile gear for our players.

 

County: Well done to Neil McAdam and the Monaghan senior footballers and Thomas Croarkin and the county minors on their wins in last Saturday’s Ulster championship double-header against Fermanagh. Good luck to Thomas and the minors in this Sunday’s game away to Cavan.

 

Community Games: Good luck to the Monaghan Town U-10 Community Games Gaelic Football team in the county final in Blackhill this Sunday.

 

Membership: Registration fees of €20 for 2017 are now overdue and must be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor or in the clubhouse as soon as possible.

 

Dates to remember: We will be participating and hosting at Féile Peil na nÓg 2017 (June 23-25), a week after our juvenile street collection. This year’s Abbey Fanning Blitz will take place on Saturday, June 10. We will once again host a Kellogg’s Monaghan GAA Cúl Camp from July 10-14. Registration is open online now. Our own Harps Summer Camp will take place in August (dates to be confirmed). Keep an eye on club notes for more details on these events.

 

Coaching: Keep an eye out for details about an upcoming Child Protection course.

 

Pitch bookings: All pitch bookings for 2017 for training or matches must be made via 086 1957155. Training slots have been allocated and any changes must be notified in advance. All co-operation from team mentors in maintaining the pitches is appreciated.

 

Congratulations: To everyone who celebrated their First Communion or Confirmation in the last few weeks.

 

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.

 

Hurling notes:

U-12: We hosted Castleblayney in round two of the league last Monday evening. After a winning start to the league (4-3 to 0-1 away to Carrick), Blayney ultimately got the better of us in what was a great, exciting game. Despite super performances throughout the team, and especially from Oisín Reilly, Jack McDonald and Oisín McPhillips, we lost by 6 points to 5. We next travel to Keady on Monday, June 5.

 

Minor: We won a third county league title in a row in blustery conditions in Castleblayney last Sunday as we overcame a fancied Carrickmacross side. A strong second half saw Carrick defeat us on a 4-15 to 3-4 scoreline in the league stage at the start of May. A number of absentees for the Harps on that day may have been a factor, however energy, work rate and belief were certainly vital factors in this league final win. The first half was very evenly contested with the Harps going in one point down. Things could have been different but for some good saves from the Carrick keeper, one from a penalty. Points were traded in the early stages of the half, with Aidan Burns, Lochlainn Power and Nathan O’Donoghue sharing the Harps scoring. Carrick then built up a head of steam to score three points without reply, before a break forward from Tommy Croarkin saw him finish to goal to leave the teams level again. A Carrick point on the half-time whistle saw them take a slender lead into the break (1-3 to 0-7). Within a minute of the restart a long-range Aidan Burns free was to set the tone for the second half. Playing into the breeze, Carrick would have to work hard for any second half scores and a miserly Harps defence led by seasoned campaigners Dylan McAree, Emmet Walsh and Anthony Greenan added to that difficulty. The Harps held Carrick to two scores throughout the second half, whilst Aidan Burns put on a man-of-the-match performance in front of goal. A workmanlike performance from Niall Ward was rewarded with a goal that pushed the Harps into a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish, meaning that a late Carrick goal would serve only as a consolation as the Harps finished 2-9 to 1-8 winners. Well done to the whole squad and the management of Adrian Dalton and Mickey O’Donoghue on completing what is a hugely impressive hat-trick of league titles for the club.

Squad & scorers: Cillian Sherry; John Lowry, Anthony Greenan, Oisín Fagan; Niall Ward (1-0), Dylan McAree, Emmet Walsh; Tommy Croarkin (1-0), Conor McCrystal; Nathan O’Donoghue (0-1), Aidan Burns (0-7), Niall McKenna; Lochlainn Power (0-1), Oisín Power, Stephen Ward; Seán Conway, Tristan Moyna, Donal Leonard, Conor Devlin.

 

Senior: We hosted Castleblayney in the final group game of the Development League last Thursday. After holding a one-point lead at half-time and leading for much of the second half, a strong finish from Blayney gave them a 1-9 to 2-11 win. This means we fail to qualify for the league final and look ahead towards an opening championship against the same opposition at the end of June.