Fixtures: Saturday, August 12: U-14 FL Division One v Cremartin (Home) at 12pm
Sunday, August 13: SFC v Magheracloone in Castleblayney at 5.15pm
Monday, August 14: U-12 HL v Cootehill (Away) at 7.30pm
Tuesday, August 15: MFC Division Two S-F v Latton in Threemilehouse at 6.45pm
Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 2, 5, 26 and 27. Jackpot of €1,500 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Donncha Carey c/o Colm Shalvey; €40 Stephen Bond c/o Dermot Coyle; €40 Annmarie McMahon c/o Ann Treanor; €40 Yvonne McCarron c/o Brian O’Sullivan. Jackpot for Sunday, August 13 is €1,600 and Gráinne and Owen Connell are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in our clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. Thanks to everyone for their support for our Lotto, which plays a critical role in our club’s funding. We ask all club members to continue to promote our Lotto as much as possible.
Seniors: We enter the 2017 Greenfield Foods Senior Football Championship with a preliminary-round tie against Magheracloone in Castleblayney on Sunday at 5.15pm. All support welcome!
Thanks: To the club members who helped us host a busy bank holiday weekend of finals. We had the U-14 FC Division One Final and the Reserve Football League Division 2B Final at Gavan Duffy Park on Friday, followed by the U-14 Division Two and Three deciders on Monday. Thanks to all our stewards and those who made sure the pitch and club grounds were in fine condition.
Summer Camp: We are looking forward to hosting our own Harps Summer Camp, which will take place for its fourth year next week: Monday, August 14 to Friday, August 18. Application forms are available now on our website and at our Saturday-morning coaching. Enquiries to Úna Forde on 087 6107329.
Minors: Our minors face Latton in the semi-finals of the Maguire Transport Division Two Championship in Threemilehouse next Tuesday (August 15) at 6.45pm. The Division Two League Final takes place against Castleblayney in Drumhowan on Tuesday week (August 22).
U-16: Our U-16s had a good win away to Latton in the Cup section of the Division One league last Thursday. The teams shared the first four points, with Luke Coyle and Shay Cooney on target for us, before Dylan Ballantine edged us ahead for the third time. Luke then scored the opening goal, while Dylan, Shay, Luke, Lochlainn Power and Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh added points as our lads finished the first half strongly to earn a 2-10 to 0-4 lead. Latton got a goal back after the restart, but Dean Doherty hit 1-1 in quick succession to maintain the gap. The hosts rallied in the final quarter, but another point from Shay and a late goal secured a 4-12 to 2-11 win for the Harps. The championship semi-final against Carrickmacross has been postponed due to the Buncrana Cup on Saturday
Team and scorers: Daragh Croarkin; Andrew Lyden, Conor Devlin, James McKenny; Stephen Ward, Killian Conlon, Anann Connor; Lorcan O’Rourke, Lochlainn Power (0-1); Oisín Fagan, Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh (Capt., 0-1), Dean Doherty (1-1); Luke Coyle (2-2), Dylan Ballantine (0-2), Shay Cooney (1-5, 0-3f).
Subs used: Cathal Nally, Tiarnán O’Rourke.
U-14: Our U-14 Division Five team lost out to Castleblayney in their Manor Farm Championship Final on Monday in Ballybay. We made a great start with a first-minute point from Daragh Croarkin, but we struggled for the rest of the second half, with a Josh Kelly free our only other score. Goalkeeper Oisín Reilly and our backs worked hard to keep us in touch and we trailed by just 0-5 to 0-2 at the end of a low-scoring first half. Josh added our first point of the second half, but Blayney stretched their lead with 1-3, before Shea Swift fired to the net to give us some hope of a comeback. We failed to convert a string of goal chances in the final quarter, however, and although Seán Callan and Gary Devlin kicked points, Blayney responded to secure a 1-12 to 1-5 victory. Our Division Five team now await the knock-out stages of the league: details to be concluded after this weekend.
Team and scorers: Oisín Reilly; Jordan Crampton, Ryan McSkeane; Mark McManus, Michael McMorrow; Daragh Croarkin (Capt., 0-1), Gary Devlin (0-1); Josh Kelly (0-2f), Dáire Sheridan; Jake McConnon, Luke McManus.
Subs: Shea Swift (1-0f), Ben Myers, Seán Callan (0-1), Eoin O’Hanlon, Conor Treanor, Dean Conlon, Aidan McGeough, Gregory O’Connell, Adam McBride.
We host Cremartin in the U-14 League Division One this Saturday at 12 noon.
U-12: Our U-12 Division Five team won at home to Donaghmoyne on Tuesday, August 1. Oisín Treanor, Morgan Coyle, Eoin Sheridan and Kyle Cooney were among the scorers as our lads produced a fine first-half performance, while Julian Coyle and Jack Garvey joined Eoin and Oisín on the scoresheet in the second half as the Harps held off a Donaghmoyne comeback to win by 8-6 to 4-6.
Panel: Oisín McGeown, Fergal Magee, Jack Corrigan, Mark Lynch, James Gunn, Ethan McCaffrey, Kyle Cooney, Oisín Treanor, Morgan Coyle, Eoin Sheridan, Julian Coyle, Jack Garvey, Rory Conway, Shea Corrigan.
Both Harps U-12 teams host Carrickmacross on Saturday week (August 19).
County: Hard luck to Neil McAdam and the Monaghan senior footballers on last Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final defeat against Dublin at Croke Park. Good luck to Lochlainn Power, Oisín Fagan, Ógie Ó Dufaigh, Killian Conlon, Conor Devlin and everyone involved with the county U-16 team in the Buncrana Cup on Saturday.
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 2543511 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience.
Hurling notes:
Juveniles: Underage coaching and games continues every Sunday at 12pm in Rooskey.
U-12: We are away to Cootehill next Monday, August 14, where we will look to build on our excellent recent win over Keady. Throw-in is at 7.30pm.
Senior: We took on Carrick in the Shield Final last Sunday. The last time these two teams met in a final was in the same competition in 2013, with the Harps recording a comprehensive 0-19 to 0-5 win on that day. However, despite a fast start and a great opening score from Conor Flynn, the Harps never really got going in this fixture and came out second best as a result. Carrick responded to that opening score with three scores of their own, one of which was a goal, and they continued to enjoy much of the better play throughout the half. It was only in the last five minutes of the half that the Harps began to show any sign of their form with a score each from Aodhán Óg McAnespie and Cathal Power. However, the concession of scores without reply during the middle part of the half left the Harps trailing by 5 points on a 0-04 to 1-06 scoreline.
The second half started very promisingly, with Jack Lee turning a long range McAnespie free to goal before an excellent pass from Tommy Croarkin found Alan Ryan, who did well to beat his man and finish to the net. This put the Harps two points up after 35 minutes, however we continued struggle to convert possession into scores and held only a one-point lead in the 48th minute. Carrick then equalised from a free and they ultimately controlled the remainder of the match. Harps indiscipline was punished in the closing 12 minutes with four Carrick frees in a row and a straight red card for Brendan Naughton compounded the problem. Although the Harps pushed hard for a goal in the dying stages, and came close on a couple of occasions, the sole Carrick score from play in the second half, along with a string of frees, proved enough to push them to a deserved three-point victory, with the game finishing on a 2-7 to 1-13 scoreline.
Squad: Cillian Sherry; Éanna Finlay, Dylan McAree, Conor Duffy; Tiarnán Bramley, Conn O’Hanlon, Cathal Power (0-4); Aodhán Óg McAnespie (0-1), Brendan Naughton; Ray Lee, Aidan Burns, Jack Lee (1-0); Robbie Healy, Conor Flynn (0-1), Frank Burke.
Subs used: Tommy Croarkin for Healy (20 mins), Alan Ryan (1-1) for Burke (HT), Paul Lee for J Lee (45).
By cshalvey Fri 11th Aug
