On Saturday 1st September the Monaghan U-14 development squad travelled to Cavan to take part in a national blitz. The blitz was hosted by three clubs outside cavan. The Monaghan boys were based in Lacken GFC for the group stages
The blitz began with a game against Louth. The boys started nervously but soon got to grips with the opposition. At half time the score was 2 points to 1 in favour of the Monaghan boys. The lads settled in to the game in the second half with notable performances from Aron Gernon, Fionn O’Callaghan and Remmy McKenna, running out winners by 5-5 to 0-3.
The second game of the group stage was against Leitrim. The Monaghan boys continued their run of good form and started the game well with a great goal by Ryan Connolly the main difference between the two teams. As the game went on Monaghan’s dominance grew and they won on a scoreline of 3-11 to 0-3.
These two wins meant that Monaghan topped their group and moved to Mullahoran GFC to play in the winner’s playoff. Their first playoff game was against Donegal. Luck was against Monaghan in the game losing their centre back Killian Hand and midfielder Cathal Power to injury in the opening five minutes. Despite this the team battled bravely with great performances from Mark Murphy, Jack Marron, James Carville, losing out in the end on a score line of 2-4 to 0-8.
The boys had a quick turnaround before having to play their 4th game and tiredness became a factor against a very strong Tyrone side. Again the boys’ effort could not be questioned as they battled to the end but lost the game on a score line of 5-10 to1-4
By michael Mon 10th Sep