The Monaghan club season finished on Sunday, with finals in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Football Leagues and the RFL Division One. Magheracloone, Rockcorry, Clones and Castleblayney’s reserves took the spoils, as Ballybay and Doohamlet fell short in their double-bids, although they will both have the chance to bounce back in Ulster club championships next Sunday.
Magheracloone finished strongly to win the Drumlin Group of Credit Unions Senior Football League Final against Ballybay. The sides were level at the end of an evenly-matched first half, but the continued excellence of Tommy Freeman in front of the posts and a brace of goals by Paul Jones helped Magheracloone to pull away for a fairly comfortable win on a scoreline of 2-10 to 0-8.
Rockcorry also surged towards the final whistle as they marked their promotion to senior football by winning the Monaghan Electrical Intermediate Football League decider. A goal by Paul McArdle helped Doohamlet take a six-point lead midway through the first half, but Rock came charging back to close the gap to two points by the interval before taking the lead when Stephen Lynch found the net. The accuracy of the likes of Fergal McGeough saw Rockcorry go on to win by 1-9 to 1-7.
Clones got it right on the big day at last when they eased to victory against Aghabog in the Eurotech Junior Football League Final Replay. Ethan Audley punched the ball to the net to help Clones lead by five at half-time and even though Stephen McPhillips bundled one over the line for 14-man Aghabog, there was no way back and Clones had seven points to spare in the end (1-10 to 1-3), with Adrian Alford kicking five points.
A dramatic comeback saw Castleblayney snatch victory in the Platinum Tanks Reserve Football League Division One Final against Scotstown, who had led by six points before going scoreless for the final 20 minutes. Goals by Keith Hill and dual star Brian McGuigan (who was named on the Nicky Rackard Cup Team of the Year on Friday) turned the game in favour of Blayney, who won by 2-9 to 0-12.
Donaghmoyne qualified for their ninth successive Ulster Ladies Club Senior Football Championship Final with a 3-10 to 0-10 win away to Armagh champions Clann Éireann on Sunday. Three first-half goals set Donaghmoyne on their way through to another provincial decider, where they will play Termon from Donegal next Sunday. Three Monaghan teams will compete in Ulster finals, including two from Donaghmoyne.
By michael Sun 28th Oct
