Fixtures: Thursday, July 23: U-15 FC Division One v Carrickmacross (Away) at 7.30pm

Friday, July 24: U-15 FC Division Five v Carrickmacross (Away) at 7.30pm

Saturday, July 25: IFC v Doohamlet (Home) at 4pm; U-13 FC Division One v Donaghmoyne (Home) at 12pm; U-13 FC Division Five v Donaghmoyne (Home) at 1.15pm

Tuesday, July 28: U-17 FC Division One v Cremartin (Away) at 7.30pm; U-13 HC v Latton (Away) at 7.30pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: We are delighted to be able to resume our club lotto, using the ClubZap platform. The numbers for last Sunday’s draw were 8, 27, 29 and 30 and the four €40 lucky-dip prize winners were Helen Hahessy c/o John Hahessy; Mia O’Connor c/o Jim Dalton (Hurling Club); Helen Scott c/o ClubZap; and Pádraig Callan c/o ClubZap. Jackpot for Sunday, July 26 is €6,000. The club is asking members willing and financially able to contribute through our lotto towards club maintenance and running expenses. This can be done by two options: set up a standing order to our club lotto via quarterly or annual payments or using our new club app by downloading ‘ClubZap’ on your phone, registering as a Monaghan Harps GAA Club member and buying club lotto in bulk or on a weekly basis. Anyone interested can contact either Rose Donnelly (086 0825782); Maria McKenna (086 1057725) or Adrian Dalton (087 7859582). Thanks to everyone for their support. Please note that the cut-off point for ClubZap each week is 6pm on Sunday, while physical tickets should be with the lotto committee by 9pm.

 

Seniors: The Intermediate Football Championship gets underway this Saturday when we host Doohamlet at 4pm. Good luck to Paddy, Ryan, Steven and the panel. Entry to this game is via ticket ONLY. The Government announcement made last Wednesday limits the maximum number of people attending an outdoor event to 200, inclusive of all players, team management, selectors, backroom staff, officials and spectators of all ages etc. Therefore, unfortunately, only a limited number of supporters are permitted to attend Saturday’s game. We have been granted an allocation of 55 tickets. Applications for these tickets will be open to all paid-up members of Cláirsigh Mhuineacháin CLG. Non-members that apply will be considered if the allocation has not been used by members. All tickets are non-transferable and unclaimed tickets will be reallocated to names on a standby list. Please note that juveniles will also need a ticket to the game and will be included in the 55 allocation. ALL tickets are priced at €10 and tickets must be paid for on collection. If you wish to apply for a ticket, please text Nicola on 0864040161 before 8.30 on Thursday night with the names of the members you are applying for. Assuming we have more than 55 requests, we will hold a draw on Friday. In the interest of fairness, please note that if you are allocated a ticket for the Doohamlet game you may not receive a ticket to another game in the round-robin series. We are aware that this situation is far from ideal but in these unprecedented times we as a club are working hard to ensure the safety of all our members within the new guidelines. Please bring this information to the attention of any club members who may not follow our social media pages. Go raibh maith agaibh.

 

Pitches: Thanks to all the club members who have volunteered their time to keep our pitches in such good condition. We ask everyone to respect these efforts and to follow the guidelines in place. With competitive fixtures resuming, we will need to review the temporary training schedules and will communicate any changes to all coaches this week.

 

Minors: The club’s first competitive fixture of the return to play saw our U-17s host Castleblayney in testing conditions last Friday. In a classic ‘game of two halves’, we led by 1-6 to 0-1 at the interval, only for Blayney to rally and eventually claim a draw at 3-7 apiece. All six starting forwards were among our eight scorers, with goals by Jake Power, Shay Cooney and Luke McManus putting us in the driving seat until a strong finish by the Faughs saw the points shared. Our next MFC game is away to Cremartin on Tuesday at 7.30pm.

Team and scorers: Daragh Croarkin (0-1); Jordan Crampton, Nathan Lavery, James Curley; Mark McManus, Tiarnán O’Rourke (Capt.), Michael McMorrow; Kevin Moran, Shea Swift (0-1); Jake Power (1-0), Gary Devlin (0-1), Jamie Coyle (0-1); Luke McManus (1-0), Jake McConnon (0-1), Shay Cooney (1-2, 0-2f).

Sub used: Ben Myers.

 

U-15: Our U-15s are set to start their campaign away to Carrickmacross this evening (Thursday) at 7.30pm. The Division Five Championship also begins in Carrick tomorrow night (Friday). Good luck to all involved.

 

U-13: Our U-13 teams returned to competitive action with a double-header away to Truagh last Saturday, where our Division One side claimed a good win before the Division Five lads fell short. Both teams host Donaghmoyne this Saturday: Division One at 12 noon, Division Five at 1.15pm.

 

Juveniles: Our Saturday-morning coaching for our youngest juveniles has resumed in recent weeks with good numbers taking part. We would like to thank all parents for their co-operation with the return-to-play protocol.

 

GAA return: Training has resumed for all age groups of football, hurling and ladies’ teams, on the understanding that players and all participants have completed the eLearning module and health questionnaire and are following the control measures in place. We are delighted as a club to be able to reopen our pitches after such a long break and we are grateful to our ever-willing volunteers and our Covid supervisors for their efforts in making this possible. Dressing rooms will remain closed until further notice, however, while there will also be restrictions in place regarding crowds at games in the coming weeks. We would like to encourage our players and everyone involved to continue to follow the relevant advice and guidance. Please see our social media for guidelines around attending games.

 

Club app: As well as offering an option to support our lotto, our new club app also has a function to pay your annual membership, make financial donations to the club, as well as a communication suite for all that goes on at the club. You can get involved by downloading ‘ClubZap’ on your phone and registering as a Monaghan Harps GAA Club member.

 

Membership: Please note that any outstanding membership fees for this year should be paid as soon as possible, especially for players at all levels who are back at training. Registration can be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor or using ClubZap. Fees are as follows: U-11s €20; juveniles/seniors €30; family membership €60.

 

Cúl Camp: The 2020 Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camp at Gavan Duffy Park is set for next week (July 27-31).

 

Sympathy: The club sends sincere sympathy to the McCaughey family on the death of Matt’s sister, Marina Conlon. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

 

History: Thanks to various club members for sharing snippets of Harps history on our social media accounts. If you have a club memory or photo you would like to share, please send to Pro.monaghanharps.monaghan@gaa.ie or 086 1957155.

 

GVI fundraiser: As part of the GVI Ambassador programme, Mary White is organising a clothes collection for this Saturday, July 25 in McNally’s car park in town. Clothing, shoes, bed linen, curtains and handbags can be accepted. Collection can be arranged by contacting Mary on 083 8750843.

 

Hurling:

Senior: Our senior team fell just short of the mark in their preliminary-round fixture versus Carrickmacross on Sunday. It was a closely-fought affair throughout the sixty minutes and extra-time was eventually called for. We found ourselves two points up going into the closing stages but a late flurry of scores from Carrickmacross saw them win out on a scoreline of 3-13 to 2-14. Full match report to follow. We now enter the junior championship, with fixtures due to be announced this week.

U-15s: We had a home fixture versus Carrickmacross on Sunday. A strong Carrick side prevailed on a scoreline of 3-3 to 0-5. Our next fixture is scheduled for the 2nd of August.

U-13s: Check out the Club Zap or our social media channels for the result from Tuesday’s fixture versus Clontibret. Next Tuesday will see us travel to Latton with throw-in at 7.30pm.

Juvenile Training: Training continues on Sunday morning at 11.30. New members welcome. Please contact Adrian on 087 7859582 with any enquiries.

 

Ladies:

The intermediate championship kicked off last weekend, with Monaghan Harps playing St. Brigid’s in ideal conditions at Gavan Duffy Park on Saturday evening. The Harps got off to a great start with two quick points, but it wasn’t too long before St. Brigid’s got a foothold in the game. When they moved ahead in the 10th minute with a goal from the outstanding Jayne Drury, it was a lead they would not relinquish. Indeed, both sets of forwards looked dangerous in the first half with every attack created. St. Brigid’s led by 5-4 to 1-6 at half-time and their forwards continued to look menacing throughout the second half, although the Harps responded with a goal from Niamh Maguire. The final score was St. Brigid’s 9-12 Monaghan Harps 2-7. Monaghan Harps had brave performances from the O’Rourke sisters in midfield, Shauna Hetherington, Emma Clerkin and substitute Scarlett Herron.

It’s great to see so many new girls down on a Saturday morning for U-8 and U-10 training. More new girls are still welcome.