Monaghan Harps notes (April 12)

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 3, 8, 10 and 19. Jackpot of €1,750 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Des Rudden c/o Tír na nÓg (Hurling Club); €40 Mairéad White c/o Ashley White; €40 Ailish Connolly c/o Brian O’Sullivan (HC); €40 Séamus McCabe c/o Owen Connell (HC). Jackpot for Sunday, April 17 is €1,900. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome.

SFL: The senior footballers start a busy schedule with two games in the next week. First up is an away game against Doohamlet on Sunday afternoon, followed by a home fixture against Clontibret next Wednesday evening. Why not come out and support the lads as they try to get their season off to a good start. 

Meeting: The club’s monthly meeting for April takes place on Thursday in the clubhouse at 8pm.

RFL: The Crawley Cup team got off the mark in the Reserve Football League Division Four with a good win at home to Toome last Friday. We had the better of the first half and we took a 1-5 to 0-3 half-time lead, helped by a fortunate goal from Ciarán O’Connell. We made a good start to the second half also to pull further clear, with Pat Murphy among the scorers, and although Toome found the net twice from placed-balls in the final quarter, we held on for a deserved win on a scoreline of 1-13 to 2-7. We wish Niall McKenna a speedy recovery from his hand injury.

Team: Ronan McGann; Fionntán Cassidy (Capt.), Lorcan McAdam, Gary Trappe; Pat Murphy, Johnny Sherry, Séamus Brannigan; Niall McKenna, Ciarán O’Connell; David Loughran, Liam Hahessy, Gary Murray; Paul Kelly, Bernie Murphy, Colm Shalvey.

Subs used: John McCoy, Mickey Buckley, Finnian McKenna, Conn O’Hanlon, Ado Connell.

The RFL Division One game against Truagh was called off last Saturday, but the O’Duffy Cup team are away to Cremartin tomorrow night (Wednesday).  

Minors: The minor footballers were unlucky to lose out by the narrowest of margins (1-10 to 2-6) away to Clontibret last Tuesday (April 5). The lads are at home to St. Pat’s tonight (Tuesday, April 12) and they have a local derby away to Scotstown next Tuesday. The management team have encouraged the lads to up the effort at training in the coming weeks, with another five games coming up in the next five weeks. 

U-14: The Harps came out on the wrong side of an epic Under-14 Football Championship Division One match in Scotstown last Saturday on a scoreline of 5-9 to 5-7. The sides were all-square after 60 minutes and they then entered into two periods of extra-time. The Harps held the advantage at half-time, but Scotstown came back into to go ahead coming to the end of normal time. The Harps came back to bring it to extra-time, only to lose narrowly. Harps had many outstanding performers with Jack Deery in goals making several key saves including a penalty. The full-back line of Ruairí Forde, Cathal Power and Captain Aaron Woods marked tight throughout while Kyle O’Leary and Shane McKenna came into the game more as it went on. Kevin Lyden at centre-back and later midfield was dominant throughout and played right to the final whistle. At midfield, Dara Hannon and John Mulligan got through a lot of work and John was unlucky to have to retire early. Up front Shane McMahon, Conor Flynn and David Lowry saw plenty of the ball and Shane tucked his penalty away expertly, while Reece Treanor, Remy McKenna and Conor Duffy carried the main scoring threat in the full-forward line. Dylan McKenna, James Owens, Adam Treanor and Paul Peppard all came on to good effect and made contributions. Well done to all involved and hopefully Conor Duffy, who picked up a nasty injury, will make a speedy recovery. Meanwhile, the Division Five team lost to Emyvale by 5-10 to 3-7. Hard luck to the players and management teams.

U-16: Good luck to the Under-16 footballers, who start their Division One league campaign with an away game in Killanny this Sunday at 6pm. Please note change of date.  

U-12: The Under-12 footballers are in action in Zones One and Two away to Emyvale this Saturday, with the games throwing in at 12 noon and 1.15pm.

Sympathy: On behalf of the club to Rose Donnelly on the death of her brother Colm O’Reilly. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. 

Aido File: Congratulations to the Harps Under-14 hurlers who won a tough championship game against Carrickmacross on Monday night. Credit and praise must go to Harps goalkeeper Ruairí Forde, who kept Carrick at bay under sustained pressure in the opening half. A towering performance from Ryan Connolly was the backbone of the Harps defence with Reece Treanor solid as a rock alongside him. Up front Conor Flynn hit the target with two goals as part of his 2-4 on the night but goal of the night goes to Nathan O’Donoghue. Nathan took a high floating ball across the thirteen on his hurl with the utmost balance and control before flicking it into the top corner. Well done lads and best of luck in the next round.