Clones

Thank you a big Thank-you to all the volunteers and helpers who helped with making sure that the grounds looked their best for Saturday evenings match. There was a great turnout on Wednesday evening last and we got though a lot of work , it really puts the club in a good light so thank you again, stay tuned for the next clean-up ahead of the Ulster Final.

Well done; to Fintan Kelly and the County Minor and Senior teams who beat Cavan on Saturday evening last.  Both teams are now in the Ulster final on the 21^st of July against Tyrone and Donegal respectively.

Tickets; for the Ulster Final are now on sale in SuperValu.  There’s sure to be a huge demand for these and I would advise anyone who wants a covered stand ticket to waste no time in getting it as these will sell out very quickly.

Well Done to Declan “Red” Flanagan and the London team who won on Sunday and are now through to the Connaught final against Mayo.  Their achievements to date have been phenomenal and they’re the story of this year.  Whilst in some circles calls for restructuring of the championship are warranted one can’t help but think that ‘Fairytale’ stories like this would suffer.  Declan works tirelessly in his role as County PRO and has a massive decision to make! Clones or Castlebar on July 21^st.

Belated birthday wishes: to Colin McCaughey who celebrated his 40^th birthday recently.  The Club wouldn’t be the same without Colin, be it on the field of play or on committee, coaching and developing to offering wise words and encouragement to everyone.  His appetite for the game and the club are unrivalled.  Colin togged out several times this season including the reserves win against Emyvale last week.  Well done Colly and we wish you many more good years in the jersey.

Inspirational: was the only word to describe the performance of Dominic Cleary at half time on Saturday.  It was great to see Dominic and both teams enjoying their football and the adulation of the packed Gerry Arthur’s stand.  All our U16 players can surely turn now to Dominic for advice on how to handle the ‘nerves’ in front of the big crowd that will surely be there for the U16 Championship Semi Final.

Cul Camps: Following on from the huge success of our Easter Camps the summer Cul Camp takes place from the 8^th-12^th of July. Cost of Camps 1st child 55euro, 2nd child 45euro, 3rd child 40euro each, & 35euro if a child wants to attend another camp (without gear). All Camps cater for 5 to 13 year old boys/girls. For further information on camps please log onto www.monaghangaa.ie or contact Paul O’Connor on 0868374827 or @ developmentmanager.monaghan@gaa.ie

Reserves:  Next game is against Blackhill next Wednesday July 10^th in the big field, throw in 8pm.

Minors; The wait is almost over and our next minor match is against Rock Emmets away on the 9th of July.

Under 16’s; Last Thursday the U-16’s played away to Latton in the league. In what was another great team performance by the boys we won on a scoreline of 2-4 to 4-18. We started this game very strongly and the boys kept the foot on the gas throughout the game and ended up running out convincing winners on the night. There were many good individual performances but it was the overall teamwork, work rate and depth of our panel that stood out the most.  Team / Panel and Scorers (13 a side): C. Beggan, D. McDermott, M. Newell, D. Freeman, E. Mulvanny (0-2), R. McGovern, E. McQuaid (1-6), D. Jilistratovs (0-1), S. McElwain, C. Cadden (1-8), F. Beggan (0-1), D. McCabe, L. Reihill  Subs/Panel:  J. Mealiff, C.Dowd (2-0), C. McDonald, D. Alford, S. McGovern, D. Slowey, J. McNamee, D. McAloon, R. Rooney

On Sunday evening the u-16s played in the quarter finals of the Championship v Aughnamullen in Clones. After getting beaten by Aughnamullen earlier on in the season in the league the boys were highly motivated going into this game. This was a hugely exciting game from the 1st whistle until the last with the lead yoyoing from team to team throughout the entire game. We got off to a flying start with a goal in the 1st minute but this was soon cancelled out as Aughnamullen struck back within five minutes with a goal of their own. Some great scores and fine defensive work ensured that we went into the interval still in touching distance on a scoreline of Clones 1-6 Aughnamullen 1-8. The 2nd half was were the drama and excitement really unfolded. For the entire 2nd half it was end to end stuff with the lead switching hands on numerous occasions. With 10 minutes to go we led the game by four points on a scoreline of 3-8 to 1-10 but Aughnamullen struck back with 1-3 of their own to lead by 2 points with the game now deep in injury time. With the atmosphere in the crowd buzzing at this stage the boys really showed their character and never say die attitude to muster one more attack which resulted in a free kick. Having to go for goal this kick crashed back of the crossbar fell to a Clones player who didn’t panic and layed it off, and with the last kick of the game we got the goal we deserved to run out 1 point winners to scenes of great excitement. Final score Clones 4-8 Aughnamullen 2-13. The boys will be keeping focused and its now a case of 1 down 2 to go for the lads. Semi Final is fixed for next Sunday v Inniskeen. Team / Panel and Scorers (13 a side): C. Beggan, D. McDermott, D. Jilistratovs, E. Mulvanny, R. Rooney (1-0), D. Feeman, E. McQuaid (1-2), C. McDonald, M. Newell (0-1), C. Cadden (0-3), F. Beggan, D. McAloon (1-2), L. Reihill