Good day for Monaghan Hurlers!
Saturday 24th March turned out to be a very good day for the hurling fraternity in Monaghan as by the end of the day both our minors and seniors had recorded victories over Tyrone and both teams had qualified for their respective league finals.
The minors overcame previously unbeaten Tyrone on Saturday morning in Clones on a scoreline of Monaghan 0-15 Tyrone 1-07, a 5pt winning margin. The scenario going into the game was with Monaghan and Fermanagh sitting level on points and both 1pt behind Cavan, Monaghan needed to defeat Tyrone and then needed Fermanagh to defeat Cavan in the day’s other fixture by a smaller margin. Monaghan held up their half of the bargain and then waited anxiously for news to come through from Enniskillen, with Fermanagh digging out the required victory courtesy of a last minute goal to win by one point and thus send Monaghan through in second place in the group behind Tyrone.
These two teams must now face one another again in the league decider and this game is now due to be played as a curtain raiser to the NFL game between Monaghan and Tyrone in Healy Park Omagh on Sunday 8th April. I would ask patrons travelling to the football game to make an effort to arrive early and support our young men in their bid for a League Title.
Our Senior hurlers travelled to Omagh on Sat. evening knowing that a win would see them through to the league final with one game to spare. The team travelled fully intent on doing the business on the night and were determined to book their place and not face the anxiety of going down to the last game against Sligo needing a result to qualify.
Tyrone won the toss and elected to play with what was a very strong breeze in the first half. This was going to be a stern test of Monaghan’s resolve and they were equal to the task!. Some resolute defending coupled with our accuracy in attack saw Monaghan retire at the break within touching distance, Tyrone 1-09 Monaghan 0-08. Monaghan then proceeded to simply squeeze the life out of Tyrone in the second half completely clamping down on the opposition all over the field and limiting them to just one point in the entire half whilst scoring 9 points themselves. Final score Monaghan 0-17 Tyrone 1-10. This was a victory based on guts, resolve, determination and no little skill as it is not easy for any team to go into Tyrone’s backyard and come away with a victory particularly as a win would have moved Tyrone into contention for a final place themselves.
Monaghan now sit proudly atop the table undefeated on the year and looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. This is a group of players who have had some tough days in the past and as a result have kept their feet firmly on the ground and show up to work every day ready and willing to give an honest effort. They wear the Monaghan jersey very proudly and deserve the support of every true Gael as they strive for silverware. Their final League game is on Sunday April 1st in Inniskeen vs Sligo and I would encourage everyone to come out and show our appreciation to a fine group of players.
