Ladies Football

MONAGHAN HEAD TO CLONES ON SUNDAY TO TAKE ON ALL IRELAND FINALISTS TYRONE IN ULSTER FINAL

This Sunday all roads lead to Clones, where the Monaghan senior ladies aim to retain their Ulster title against last year’s All Ireland finalists Tyrone. The Monaghan girls were in fine form all year in the league unbeaten until the semi final. In their championship games to date, they weren’t really tested. Tyrone on the other hand had that tough encounter against Donegal in the semi final.They had an up and down league campaign, but like last year showed, it is the performances in the championship that count. Tyrone have been improving steadily all year and will be out to stop Monaghan win 2 in a row, just like they done in 2009. Monaghan/ Tyrone games have always provided fast flowing football, and Sunday should be no different. Both have forwards with lightning speed and the game will probably be decided on which defence holds out best.

I spoke to manager Gregory Mc Gonigle and team captain Sharon Courtney during the week. First I asked Gregory what he felt about Sunday’s game.

He said that he was really pleased to be in the ulster final  once again, and as a group they were really looking forward to the final. The team have been training very hard and after the rounds of club championships  management have had full access to all the county players. Gregory wished to put on record his thanks to the clubs for their co-operation and the fixtures committee, who facilitated his request to have round 2 of the championship put back to facilitate this. He feels that as a team things are going well and that they are playing with great confidence. In recent weeks, the players have really upped the intensity in training. This has left himself and the rest of the management team with the difficult task of selecting the team. He believes that it will probably take the full complliment of subs to beat Tyrone. Tyrone are an excellent side who ended Cork’s great run last year and reached the All Ireland final in Croke park. Gregory mentioned the fact that he has coached quite a number of Tyrone girls through his time as UUJ manager and also as Ulster manager. He mentioned Gemma Begley and the 2 Donnelly sisters Joeline and Cathy who all received All Stars last year. He believes that they are as good as forwards there is in the current game and that Monaghan will have to really perform if they are to retain their Ulster title and will need some huge performances all over the park. Tyrone he believes, have improved as the year has gone on and will be a serious threat to Monaghan’s ambitions to claim another Ulster title.

I also spoke to team captain Sharon Courtney, and asked  her how  she felt about Sunday’s game and if she was confident going into the game . She said there was a great buzz in the camp and that she was confident. She felt the team have been playing good football up to now and that things have been going well in training. She said that Tyrone have always given Monaghan a tough game and that Sunday’s match would be just as tough as previous championship games Monaghan have played against them. When asked about what Tyrone players we should be watching for, she said that they have a very lively forward line consisting of 3 current All Stars. They put up a very high score in their semi final against Donegal and that the Monaghan defence will have to be on top of their game. She believes preparations have been going very well. The team are just back from a weekend away in Letterkenny where they got the opportunity to play Donegal. In between collective training sessions since the semi final against Armagh, a round of club championship games  have been played so most of the girls have got a game recently. This she believes has been a great help. There should also be a full panel available as the few that had injuries are now back in full training. Sharon believes that the introduction of a number of new young players has been great for the team. The young girls have really mixed in well and the team bonding weed end away helped a lot with that. A few have made their championship debuts this year and she thinks that this is a  help as there is a renewed hunger in the team.  These new players also bring something different to the team that other counties wouldn’t be aware of.

As Gregory and Sharon have said, Sunday will be a tough and exciting encounter. Both teams  have served up some mouth watering games in the past and I am sure Sunday will be no different. Monaghan will be keen to retain their title but Tyrone will be out to stop them in their tracks. We ask that you come out in your numbers on Sunday to lend your support to this fantastic bunch of girls. The game is in Clones. Throw in 3.30pm. On behalf of the county board we wish the team and management the very best of luck

EMYVALE GIRLS LOSE OUT TO EVENTUAL WINNNERS IN FEILE

Emyvale U14 girls travelled to Cork last weekend to take part in the All Ireland Feile. This was the first time in the club’s history and a great weekend was had by all. Emyvale were based in Kinsale. They headed off on Thursday morning at 7 and made the long trip to Kinsale. Their first game of the group was against the host club Kinsale and after  the long journey it took the girls a little while to settle down. But in the second half they got into their stride and ran out comfortable winners

Line Out Stephanie Lynch, Emily O Donohue, Gemma Curley, Amy Hamill, Ellen O Brien, Ciara Mc Carron, Rebecca Hughes, Verity O Connor, Ellen Mulligan, Eimear Mc Anespie, Hanna Gallagher, Saoirse Treanor, Dolores Hughes, Natasha Hughes

Subs used Kassie Mc Kenna, Chloe Mc Kenna, Kathleen Connolly, Ella Moran

Thursday evening they headed into the parade in Cork city and they really looked the part. They caught the eye of many with how well they looked, and indeed they were rewarded with a trophy for the best dressed team. Their banner designed by Monica Liddle was voted 2nd best overall, another wonderful achievement. With over 180 teams taking part this was a great achievement on both counts

Their next game was on Friday morning gainst Bearagh. Emyvale went into this game without their regular full back Emily O Donohue who was sick but the team showed great character and after playing some fast flowing football they ran out winners, the final score was Emyvale 3-6  Bearagh 2-2

Emyvale’s scorers   Dolores Hughes    2-1

Rachel Gallagher  1-0

Rebecca Hughes  0-4

Verity O Connor    0-1

Line Out Stephanie Lynch, Ellen Molloy, Ciara Mc Carron, Gemma Curley, Amy Hamill, Ellen O Brien, Ella Moran, Rebecca Hughes, Verity O Connor, Saoirse Treanor, Eimear Mc Anespie, Hanna Gallagher, Ellen Mulligan, Dolores Hughes, Natasha Hughes

Subs used:  Chloe Mc Quaid, Sarah Louise Mc Caffrey, Rachel Gallagher, Lucy Mc Donald, Kathleen Connolly

Next up was Ferbane who also had won their two opening games. This game was to decide who would go through to the semi finals.

Ferbane played with the wind in the first half and they started to put pressure on the Emyvale defence. The Emyvale girls however, defended well in the opening few minutes to deny the Ferbane girls on a number of occassions. However a penalty was awarded to the Ferbane girls and after scoring, it seemed to give them confidence and they pushed ahead in the opening half . Emyvale tried hard to stay in touch but the Ferbane girls seemed to be just that little bit stronger. In the second half the Emyvale girls did make a comeback with goals from Dolores Hughes (penalty) and a great individual goal from Ellen O Brien but they left it just a little bit too late and in the end Ferbane held out for a win, The final scoreline Ferbane 4-4  Emyvale 2-2

Line Out

Stephanie Lynch, Gemma Curley, Emily O Donohue, Ciara Mc Carron, Amy Hamill, Ellen O Brien, Ella Moran, Rebecca Hughes, Verity O Connor, Saoirse Treanor, Eimear Mc Anespie, Hanna Gallagher, Ellen Mulligan, Dolores Hughes, Natasha Hughes

Subs used Ellen Molloy, Kathleen Connolly

Incidentally, Ferbane went on to win the competition so that was some consolation for the Emyvale girls who had put up such a good account of themselves.

Skills competition

Rebecca Hughes was Emyvale’s representative in the Skills competition. On the Friday morning she won her section qualifying for the semi finals that evening. In the semi finals she put up another great performance finishing first and qualifying for the finals on the Saturday. All hands travelled to Pairc Ui Chiomh to see Rebecca represent her club and county and once again she didn’t let them down. With herself and the Cork girl tied on points, it was down to the time, with Rebecca just losing out by 4 hundredths of a second. However despite the disappointment, this was a wonderful achievement by Rebecca. To come 2nd in an All Ireland is a great achievement. Aside from her performance in the Skills, Rebecca played a key role for her team in all of the games and indeed all year has been outstanding. She will indeed be a player to watch out for in the future

MONAGHAN U16S  V  ANTRIM  – Saturday July 9th. Venue yet to be decided

After such a long break, Monaghan U16 team play Antrim in their final game in the Ulster championship. A win will secure them a place in the Ulster final. T he girls have been steadily training away in preparation for this game and on behalf of the county board we wish the team and management the very best of luck. On going to press there was still no venue for Saturday’s game but we encourage as many as possible to go along and give the girl’s your support

Further games took place in both the Senior and Junior championship.

Senior Championship – Wednesday 29th June

Emyvale 1-15  Truagh 0-5

Emyvale opened their senior championship campaign with a win over neighbours Truagh. Truagh lost out to Donaghmoyne in the opening championship game and went into this game knowing that a win would still leave them with a chance of reaching the final. Emyvale knew that if they didn’t get a result they would have to travel to Donaghmoyne needing a win. It was a tense opening half. Truagh played with the wind in the first half and defended in numbers leaving it very difficult for Emyvale to break through. Emyvale did register 9 points in the first half but got 2 players sin binned leaving them going into the break with just 13 players. With the half time score 9 points to 3, and with Emyvale down to 13 players Truagh started the second half knowing that they had to take the game to Emyvale. However the Emyvale defence excelled making it very difficult for the Truagh forwards to break through. Emyvale continued to push forward and an excellent goal by Therese Mc Nally put the game beyond Truagh’s reach. Final Score Emyvale 1-15  Truagh 0-5

With 2 games already played in the Senior championship we already know who the 2 finalists will be in this years championship.They will be Donaghmoyne reigning champions and Emyvale. Both of these teams have to meet in round 3 but the result will be irrelevant as they are both already secured of a place in the final

Junior Championship Group 1 Round 2                      Thursday 30^th June 2011

Donaghmoyne                        V        Aughnamullen

Donaghmoyne made up for their mistakes in the first round of the championship to bring about a result in this encounter with Aughnamullen.

Management made a few positional changes while also bringing in a few debutantes.

Sandra Mc Connell now operating in the midfield position and partnering capt Aine Finnegan, they made a formidable pair driving at the Aughnamullen defence.

Aughnamullen failed to score in the opening half with donaghmoyne defence in excellent form.  The first score came form Megan Mc Geough in the form of a goal with less than five minutes of play gone and this was followed up in the next few minutes by points from Sandra Mc Connell (1) (who had a excellent day in the middle of the park) Megan Mc Geough (1) Sandra Mc Connell (2) and Sandra got her major in the 17^th min with some brilliant play from the Maria Smyth. Megan Mc Geough got her second major some minutes later. In the final minutes of the half points came from Sandra Mc Connell (1), Edel Keenan (1), Karen Hall (1), and Sandra Mc Connell to leave the half time score at Donaghmoyne 3-8 to Aughnamullen 0-0.

The second half Donaghmoye started brightly once again with a point from Sandra Mc Connell, Karen Hall followed this up with another some minutes later.

Aughnamullen did register their first score of the game in the 10^th min with a point from Linda Hamilton, however Aine Finnegan cancelled this out with one of her own.  Maria Smyth added another, Aughnamullen were finding it very difficult to get through the Donaghmoyne defence however they did register a second point from Aoife Sheridan, once again Donaghmoyne had the ball back and points followed from Elaine Martin and Maria Smyth.  Aughnamullen did record a third point from Linda Hamilton which was to be their final score of the game and Donaghmoyne went on to put another over the bar from Aoife Keenan and a fourth Major from youngster Aine Mc Elroy, this goal wrapped up proceedings on a scoreline of Donaghmoyne 4-15 to Aughnamullen 0-3

Inniskeen 6-19  Seans 1-3

Inniskeen proved why they are the favourites for the Junior championship with a convincing win over Seans. After the narrowest of wins over Donaghmoyne B the previous week, Inniskeen were in top form and are now holding top position in group 1 with 2 wins out of 2.

The fight for second place and a place in the semi finals will go down to the last 2 games. Inniskeen have to play Aughnamullen and Seans have to play Donaghmoyne B. It looks like the result of this game will decide who will join Inniskeen in the semi finals.

Emyvale 2-10  Truagh 1-2

This was a great game of football by both teams. Emyvale got off to a great start with points from Sinead Mc Carron, Carol Flood and Orla Mc Kenna. Amy Mc Kenna opened Truagh’s scoring with a point after 18minutes. Emyvale responded with points from Leona and Jenna Hughes before Carol got the first goal of the day. Alana O Donohue got a point to leave the score at half time  Emyvale 1-6  Truagh 0-1`
The second half opened with Sorcha Mc Kenna scoring for Emyvale but then Truagh staged a comeback with Niamh Mc Quaid adding a goal and a point. Truagh fought really hard but some excellent defending by the Emyvale’s defence kept them at bay and further points from Orla Mc Kenna and Micheala Mc Quaid and a goal from Orla Mc Kenna put the game beyond doubt.

There is still one remaining game to be played in this group between Truagh and Latton. A win for Latton would secure top spot for them with Emyvale securing the other semi final position. However a win for Truagh would leave it a 3 way tie leaving the competition wide open.

FIXTURES

Ulster Senior Championship final- Sunday 10th July

Monaghan  V   Tyrone   Venue Clones Throw in 3.30pm

U16 Ulster Championship – Saturday 9th July

Antrim V  Monaghan – Venue to be decided

U16 Club games – All Monday 11th July at 7.00 pm

Division 1

Emyvale  V  Monaghan Harps

Truagh  V  Scotstown

O Neills  V  Donaghmoyne

Division 2

Magheracloone  V  Inniskeen

Latton  V  Carrickmacross

Aghabog  V  Killanny

Division 3

Corduff  V  St Brigids

Seans  V  Eire Og