Manor Farm U15 Division 1 Shield Final

Clontibret 3-14 Monaghan Harps 2-10

21/07/2019

The carefully manicured pitch at Tyholland was the perfect setting for this Manor Farm U15 Division 1 Shield Final between Monaghan Harps and Clontibret on Thursday evening last. With the benefit of a slight breeze blowing towards the road end Clontibret took control in the first quarter with points from Kyle Dunlop, Lorcan Brennan, Josh Lowey and Henry Kelly along with a well taken penalty struck by team captain Aaron Carey. The Harps gave as good as they got in this half and despite the best efforts of the Clontibret defence where Aodan Doyle, Kealan  McKeeverand the Myers brothers Shane and Shaun were outstanding they struck for some well taken scores with points from the classy Luke McManus and a fine individual goal from their sharpshooter Eoin O’Hanlon. Although it was Clontibret that eventually levelled up matters just before half time it was the Harps who went in the happier for the break.

A misplaced back pass to the Clontibret goalie Shane McCully early in the second half allowed Shay Kelly sneak a cheeky goal which could have set the Harps on the road to victory. Instead it was the spur for Clontibret to take control mainly through the dominance of their midfield duo Aaron Carey and the outstanding Lewis Brady whose fielding, inter-linked running and scoring was the highlight of the match. With target man Cailean Cawley now coming into his own at full forward and Lorcan Brennan, Josh Lowey and Odhran Keenan running off him they tortured a Harps defence that missed the aerial strength of black carded Karol Parszywkaand despite the best efforts of Harps captain Gary Devlin, Jake McConnon and Shane Moran Clontibret dominated the final quarter for a seven point margin of victory.

Afterwards the cup was presented to the winning captain Aaron Carey  by Garrett Coyle  both of whom praised  the fine efforts of the Clontibret and Harps teams, the facilities provided at Tyholland and the role of the referee and his officials in contributing a fine sporting contest.

Clontibret;  Shane McCully, Aodan Doyle, Shane Myers, Ben O’Shannon, Kealan McKeever , henry Kelly, Shaun Myers, Aaron Carey (C) (1-2) Lewis Brady (2-3), Kyle Dunlop (0-1) Odhran Keenan (0-2), Nathan Coyle, Lorcan Brennan, (0-4) Josh Lowey (0-2) Cailean Cawley

Monaghan Harps Oisin Reilly, Jordan Crampton, Jake McConnon, Shane Moran, mark Clerkin, Sean Callan, Karol Parszywka, Shea Swift (0-1) , Gary Devlin (c) Cian Bradley (0-2) Eoin O’hanlon (1-3) Senan Cudden, Josh Kelly (0-1), Luke McManus (0-3)Shay Kelly (1-0)

Referee Donal Connolly