Fixtures: Monday, March 18: U-13 FL Division One v Truagh (Away) at 12pm; U-13 FL Division Five v Scotstown (Away) at 1.30pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 9, 11, 17 and 19. Jackpot of €1,300 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Geraldine McGorman c/o Brian O’Sullivan (Hurling Club); €40 Michael McKenna c/o Joe Finlay (Hurling Club); €40 Declan Lyden c/o senior footballers; €40 Johnny McCrudden c/o Paddy Donnelly. Jackpot for Sunday, March 17 is €1,400 and Mary and Fergus Coyle 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 has now played a critical role in our club’s funding for almost 25 years: we plan to celebrate that milestone on April 28. We ask all club members to continue to promote our Lotto as much as possible. Please note that the 2019 Sunday-night rota is now available in the clubhouse.

 

Meetings: The club’s monthly meeting for March takes place this evening (Thursday) in the clubhouse at 8pm.

 

Charity match: We were delighted to gather in the clubhouse last Sunday night to present a cheque for €2,500 to be split evenly between two local groups from our New Year’s Day charity match. Mary White and Owen Connell thanked everyone who supported the charity match, including everyone who played, donated money or helped out in any way on the day, not least Terry Gilsenan for his generous donation. Mary Jo Earley represented the Monaghan Cancer Treatment Support group, while Séamus Brady spoke on behalf of the Monaghan branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association. Well done again to everyone involved.

 

St. Patrick’s Day: Our juveniles will again be taking part in the Monaghan Town St. Patrick’s Day parade this Sunday. Everyone is welcome to join us for an evening of ceol agus craic in the clubhouse afterwards. Club members are asked to support in any way they can: adult members available to help steward the parade can contact Dónal Sherry on 086 2336159. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh go léir!

 

Reserves: The 2019 season has started with a busy schedule for our reserve teams. We hosted Aghabog in the Platinum Tanks RFL Division 2B last Saturday in very difficult conditions. Scores by the likes of Luke Coyle and Oisín Fagan kept us in touch in the first half, but Aghabog always held the lead and although we got a fortunate goal back when a Ben Kearns-Flynn shot ended up in the net, the away side claimed the points.

Team: Dessie McGarry; Ben Kearns-Flynn (1-0), Carl Foentjies, Rory Sleator; Conor Forde, Seán Peyton, Oisín Fagan (0-1); Peter Coyle, Evan Doherty (0-1f); Colm Shalvey (0-2), Conor Callan, Luke Coyle (0-5, 4f); Nathan O’Donoghue, Niall Brannigan, Seán Conway.

Sub used: Conor Devlin.

We travelled to Aughnamullen on Sunday for our second game in Division 1B, which was again played in very testing conditions. A much-changed team from our opening-round win fell to a disappointing defeat after a strong start by Aughnamullen.

Team: Dylan McAree; Rory Sleator, Conor Callan, Kevin Lyden; Niall Ward, Niall Greenan, Francis Lynch; Gary White (Capt.), Shane McMahon; Luke Coyle, Conor McCrystal, Conor Forde; Nathan O’Donoghue, Evan Doherty, Garbhan McKenna.

Subs used: John Mulligan, Thomas Croarkin, Colm Shalvey, Jamie Shields, Conor Devlin.

 

Pitches: Training schedules for all teams are currently being finalised. Coaches are asked to please ensure that gates and dressing rooms are locked and all equipment, bottles etc. is removed from the pitch after training sessions.

 

Registration: Registration fees for 2019 are now due to be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor or in the clubhouse. Please note that all juvenile and adult players must be paid-up members. Fees are as follows: U-11s €20; juveniles/seniors €30; family membership €60.

 

Minors: Clones have conceded this Sunday’s scheduled first-round game in the new U-19 Football League. The U-17 Football League is just under two weeks away, with the first round set for Tuesday, March 26.

 

Juveniles: The juvenile year is set to begin with the first round of the U-13 Football Leagues on Monday. Our Division One team are away to Truagh for a 12 noon throw-in, while the Division Five lads have a short trip to Scotstown for a 1.30pm throw-in. Many thanks to Paul Bond and Dermot Coyle of Brix Workwear for presenting our U-13s with a new set of jerseys! The U-11 Spring Leagues will begin with a double-header away to Castleblayney on Saturday week (March 23).

 

Dates to remember: The 25^th anniversary party for the club’s Lotto is planned for April 28. The Intermediate Football League is scheduled to start on Saturday, March 30 (at home to Corduff). Our Saturday-morning coaching for juveniles is due to kick off in late March. Darkness into Light will take place for a sixth time in Monaghan on May 11, 2019.

 

County: Good luck to the Monaghan senior footballers against Cavan in Clones on Saturday and also to the minor and U-16 footballers, who travel to Antrim.

 

Muineachán le Gaeilge: Tá ranganna Gaeilge eagraithe ag Muineachán le Gaeilge in ár gclubtheach gach Mháirt @ 7pm. More details of these Irish conversational classes can be seen on the Muineachán le Gaeilge social-media pages. Scaip an scéal le bhur dtoil!

 

O’Neills: A range of Harps gear can now be bought online from O’Neills website. See the club’s social-media pages for the link.

 

Coaching: We have begun a coaching programme in the local primary schools. Thanks to Coaching Officers Martin Sheridan and Mel McMorrow and the coaches involved in getting this up and running.

 

Ladies: Our U-14s won away to Donaghmoyne in the Division Two Championship quarter-final last Sunday in very testing conditions by 4-3 to 1-7. They now have a semi-final to look forward to in a couple of weeks’ time. Well done to all involved.

Squad and scorers: Alice Trainor, Ellen McDonald, Caoimhe O’Neill, Aoife McSkeane, Orlaith McNally, Aoibhinn McGinnity (3-1), Katie Trainor, Niamh McElwain, Orla Sherry, Hannah McQuaid (1-2), Eve McNally, Grace McConnon, Kelly Croarkin, Kayla Fagan, Amy McDonald, Aoibhinn Mac Cinna, Hannah Pourani, Aoife O’Gara, Geraldine Sweeney.

Good luck to the minor team in their Division Two Championship quarter-final against Killeevan at the Peace Link, Clones on Monday at 2pm. All support welcome.

 

Notes: Anyone who has news for inclusion in the club notes can send an email to pro.monaghanharps.monaghan@gaa.ie by Tuesday morning.