Fixtures: Saturday, March 19: Under-12 Spring League Zone A v Donaghmoyne (Away) at 2pm; Zone B v Truagh (Away) at 4.45pm

Sunday, March 20: SFL v Doohamlet (Home) at 2pm; RFL Division Three v Truagh (Home) at 12.30pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 6, 14, 15 and 25. Jackpot of €4,300 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Séamus & Anne McManus (direct debit) c/o self; €40 Michael Buckley c/o Barry Sullivan; €40 Suzanne Treanor c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Mary Macklin c/o Maria McKenna. Jackpot for Sunday, March 20 is €4,400 and Ann and Adrian Trappe are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in our refurbished clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome.

 

St. Patrick’s Day: We are, as always, looking forward to the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on Thursday. Our juveniles and their mentors will take part in the town parade and everyone is welcome to join us for an evening of ceol agus craic in the clubhouse afterwards. Club members are asked to support in any way they can, with help in bringing food particularly appreciated. The All-Ireland club finals will be shown, with many Harps people to keep an eye out for Castlebar’s Eoghan O’Reilly. Beannachtaí na féile Pádraig oraibh go léir!

 

Seniors: We start our Senior Football League campaign with a home game against Doohamlet this Sunday at 2pm. Good luck to the players and the management of Cathal McAnenly, Michael Buckley and Declan McStravick. All support welcome.

 

Reserves: We returned to Division 1A of the Reserve Football League with a home game against Scotstown last Sunday. A promising first-half performance sent us in leading by 0-8 to 0-7, with a number of players getting on the scoresheet, but we were unable to convert possession into enough scores in the second half and it was Scotstown who got the only goal to give them the platform for victory. There were still positives to take for a team featuring five debutants at this level.

Team: Emmett McArdle; Paul Smyth, James McKenna, Niall Ward; Francis Lynch, Nicholas Treanor, David Lowry; Evan Doherty, Niall Treanor; Liam Hahessy, Colm Shalvey, Brendan McQuaid; Nathan O’Donoghue, Éimhín Morahan, Dean Fanning.

Subs: Conor Forde for O’Donoghue, Niall McManus for Ward, Dylan McKenna for Fanning.

Our next Division 1A game is away to Truagh on Saturday week, while this Sunday sees our Division Three team host Truagh at 12.30.

 

U-14: Our Under-14 Division One team got the juvenile year underway with a hard-earned win at home to Emyvale last Saturday. Goals by Adam McGarry and Shay Cooney got us off to a good start and although Emyvale came back into it, points by Terence McDonald and Josh Maguire and some excellent defending left us 2-2 to 0-3 ahead at half-time. We started the second half with a goal from substitute Mike Bradley and even after Emyvale rallied to close the gap to a point, scores by Terence, Mike, Tiarnán O’Rourke and Josh secured a 4-5 to 2-6 win. Our Division Five team start their campaign on Saturday week (March 26).

Team and scorers: Daragh Croarkin; James McKenny, Liam Conway; Dean Doherty, Nathan Lavery, Kevin Moran; Dylan Ballantine (Capt.), Tiarnán O’Rourke (0-1f); Terence McDonald (0-2, 1f), Brian McAteer, Josh Maguire (0-2); Adam McGarry (1-0), Shay Cooney (1-0).

Sub used: Mike Bradley (2-0).

 

U-12s: Our Under-12 teams start their Spring League campaigns with away games this Saturday: Zone A in Donaghmoyne at 2pm and Zone B in Truagh at 4.45. Good luck to all involved.

 

Know Your Sport: Our sports prediction competition is back for 2016, with another 20 questions to be answered. Forms are available now from senior players and club members. Put your sporting knowledge to the test and try to beat last year’s winner, Emmet McWilliams, who got 16 correct!

 

Dates to remember: We are looking forward to our Cake Sale in the Shopping Centre on Saturday, April 16, two weeks after the scheduled return of our Saturday-morning coaching. We will host a Scór night in the clubhouse on April 23: check back for more details. The Senior Football League starts this Sunday (March 20) with a home game against Doohamlet, while the Minor Football League begins on Tuesday, April 5 away to Scotstown. We will once again host Darkness into Light Monaghan this year in the early hours of Saturday, May 7, with a launch night in the Hotel Kilmore, Cavan tonight (Tuesday). Our Golf Classic and Street Collection will both take place in June (more details later).

 

Juveniles: As well as our Under-12 teams starting the Spring League this Saturday, all other juvenile teams are preparing for the start of their competitions, which are scheduled as follows: Under-16s: Thursday, March 31; Under-14 Division Five: Saturday, March 26.

 

Membership: Registration fees of €20 for 2016 can now be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor (086 2591411) or in the clubhouse. All players and members must be paid up by the end of March. The deadline is fast approaching, so members are asked to register as soon as possible.

 

Keys: Anyone who has any keys for our facilities at Gavan Duffy Park that are not currently needed is asked to please return them to Damien Morgan or any club member at their earliest convenience.

                                                                                        

Pitch bookings: All pitch bookings for 2016 for training or matches must be made via 086 1957155. Training slots have been allocated and any changes must be notified in advance.

                                                                                        

County/Colleges: Good luck to Kevin Loughran, Fearghal McMahon and the county Under-21s in their Ulster championship quarter-final against Fermanagh in Inniskeen tomorrow night (Wednesday). Best wishes to all Harps players currently playing for schools and college teams, especially our large contingent involved with the St. Macartan’s College Dalton Cup panel in their quarter-final.

 

Congratulations: To Dan Scott, who was the Guest of Honour at the Monaghan New York GAA Club’s dinner dance last weekend.

 

Sympathy: At last Thursday’s club meeting, votes of sympathy were passed to the families of Pauric Greenan, Peter Sherry and Salva Treanor. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.

 

Coaching: Monaghan Coaching & Games Development are running a series of Coach Education programmes and workshops in Cloghan. See the Monaghan GAA website or contact Pádraig Callan on 087 2139188 for more details.

 

Gavan Duffy Park: The refurbished Monaghan Harps clubhouse is available to book for functions. Contact Jimmy Croarkin on 087 1249635 or Pádraig Callan on 087 2139188 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience.