Fixtures: Thursday, May 9: U-15 FL Division One v Castleblayney (Home) at 6.15pm; DHL v Truagh (Home) at 7.45pm
Sunday, May 12: IFL v Aughnamullen (Away) at 2pm
Monday, May 13: U-15 FL Division Four v Corduff (Home) at 7.30pm
Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 4, 7, 14 and 16. Jackpot of €1,600 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Francie O’Neill c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 Patricia McCarville c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 Delia Finnegan c/o Ann Treanor; €40 Adrian Toal c/o Séamus Treanor. Jackpot for Sunday, May 12 is €1,700. Lotto draw takes place in our clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. Thanks to everyone for their support for our Lotto, which has now played a critical role in our club’s funding for 25 years. We ask all club members to continue to promote our Lotto as much as possible.
DIL: Final preparations are underway for our sixth time to host Electric Ireland Darkness into Light Monaghan, which takes place at 4.15am this Saturday morning, May 11, once again starting and finishing at our club grounds. Thanks to everyone who has helped in any way so far. Please come along and be part of this special event, which is the main fundraiser for Pieta House, the centre for the prevention of self-harm/suicide. Keep an eye on social media for updates and information in the run-up to Saturday morning.
Meetings: The club’s monthly meetings for May take place this evening (Thursday) in the clubhouse: juvenile at 7pm, senior at 8pm.
Seniors: We had a hard-earned win at home to Emyvale in the Monaghan Electrical Intermediate Football League last Wednesday. The visitors raced into a 1-2 to 0-1 lead, but Éimhín Morahan, Neil McAdam, Dean Fanning, Lochlainn Power and Conor Duffy were on target as we hit eight points without reply between then and half-time. We maintained that lead throughout the second half, with points from Éimhín, Neil and James McKenna securing a 0-12 to 1-6 win.
Team and scorers: Darragh Hannon; Conor Duffy (0-1), John Mulligan, Thomas Croarkin; Nicholas Scott, Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh, Kevin Loughran; James McKenna (0-1), Aodhán Óg McAnespie (Capt.); Oisín Fagan, Éimhín Morahan (0-6, 2f), Dean Fanning (0-1); Shane McMahon, Neil McAdam (0-2, 1f), Lochlainn Power (0-1).
Subs: Dylan McKenna for Mulligan (19 mins), Gary White for D McKenna (black card, 30), Michael Galligan for Power (47), Niall Greenan for McMahon (60).
The IFL now returns to ‘two-point’ games minus county players. We are away to Aughnamullen this Sunday for a 2pm throw-in. All support welcome.
Reserves: A good weekend for our reserve teams saw us pick up points in the Division 1B and 2B leagues. We had a 2-13 to 1-6 win at home to Latton in Division 1B on Friday night. Points from Niall McManus, Brendan McQuaid, Gary White, Luke Coyle and Evan Doherty had us 0-10 to 0-2 clear by half-time. A fortunate goal helped Latton close the gap midway through the second half, but quick strikes by Francis Lynch and Dylan McKenna meant we pulled away again.
Team and scorers: Dylan McAree; Conor Devlin, Conn O’Hanlon (Capt.), Conor Duffy; Thomas Croarkin, James McKenna, Niall McManus (0-1); Dylan McKenna (1-0), Lochlainn Power; Brendan McQuaid (0-2), Gary White (0-2f), Niall Greenan; Luke Coyle (0-5, 2f), Evan Doherty (0-3, 1f), Francis Lynch (1-0).
Subs: Nathan O’Donoghue, Conor Callan, John Mulligan, Shane McMahon, Kevin Lyden, Rory Sleator, Ben Kearns-Flynn.
We followed that up with a 2-16 to 1-10 win away to Blackhill on Sunday. Some strong defending set the foundations for a 0-8 to 0-5 half-time lead, with Niall Greenan leading our scoring. Dylan McAree marked a rare outfield appearance with a second-half goal and with Jason McHugh coming on to hit the net late on, we secured the win.
Team and scorers: Dessie McGarry; Aidan Burns, Conn O’Hanlon, Conor Campbell; Conor Devlin, Carl Foentjies, Rory Sleator; Ben Kearns-Flynn (0-1), Conor Callan; Colm Shalvey (0-6), Niall Greenan (0-7), Oisín Fagan; Nathan O’Donoghue (0-3), Dylan McAree (1-0), Brendan McQuaid.
Sub: Jason McHugh (1-0) for McAree.
Our next reserve game is in the Crawley Cup championship against Doohamlet on Friday week, May 17.
Minors: The latest round of the U-17 Football League Division One was brought forward to last Tuesday evening (April 30), when we had an away win against Carrickmacross in difficult conditions. Points from Dylan Ballantine, Eoghan McGinnity and Terence McDonald kept us in touch during an evenly-matched first half that ended at 0-5 apiece. An improved performance at both ends during the second half, capped by goals from Shay Cooney and Joshua Clerkin and points by Dylan, Eoghan, Terence and Shay, earned us the win on a scoreline of 2-11 to 0-10.
Team and scorers: Daragh Croarkin; Cathal Nally, Nathan Lavery, Liam Conway; Mark McManus, Dean Doherty (Capt.), Kevin Moran; Tiarnán O’Rourke, Dylan Ballantine (0-3, 1f); Josh Maguire, Eoghan McGinnity (0-4f), Jake Power; Adam McGarry, Terence McDonald (0-3, 2f), Shay Cooney (1-1, 0-1f).
Subs used: James McKenny, Joshua Clerkin (1-0), Ben Myers, James Curley.
Our next game is on May 21.
U-15: Our U-15 Division One team lost out at home to Scotstown last Thursday. Our lads started brightly, but Scotstown rallied strongly to lead at half-time. The second half was nip and tuck throughout, with an Ethan Ballantine goal and points from Karol Parszywka, Luke McManus, Eoin O’Hanlon, Senan Cudden, Fionán Ó Gallchóir and Josh Kelly keeping the Harps in touch, before a late goal gave Scotstown breathing space.
Team: Oisín Reilly; Mark Clerkin, Jake McConnon, Gregory O’Connell; Shea Swift, Seán Callan, Jordan Crampton; Gary Devlin, Karol Parszywka; Luke McManus, Eoin O’Hanlon, Ethan Ballantine; Senan Cudden, Fionán Ó Gallchóir, Josh Kelly.
Sub used: Ali Galligan.
Our U-15s have a home game in Division One this evening (Thursday) against Castleblayney at 6.15. The Division Four home game v Corduff has been rearranged for Monday at 7.30pm.
U-13: Our U-13 teams were part of a free-scoring double-header away to Donaghmoyne, which had been brought forward to Monday. Our Division One team won narrowly (5-12 to 5-8), while our Division Five side lost by a similarly small margin (10-7 to 9-5).
U-11: Our U-11s played away to Donaghmoyne last Saturday. The next Spring League games are at home to Carrickmacross on Saturday week, May 18.
Coaching: Our Saturday-morning coaching for our youngest players is up and running for 2019. The club is very fortunate to have a pool of hardworking and dedicated individuals who look after and coach these “early learners”. Our Saturday-morning activities are fun-filled and enjoyed by the children and are an equally rewarding and enjoyable experience to those who help make it happen, so we encourage anyone with an interest to get involved.
Registration: Registration fees for 2019 are now overdue but can still be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor or in the clubhouse. Please note that all juvenile and adult players must be paid-up members. Fees are as follows: U-11s €20; juveniles/seniors €30; family membership €60.
County: Good luck to Daragh Croarkin and the Monaghan minor footballers in Saturday’s Ulster MFC game against Tyrone in Carrickmore. Good luck also to everyone involved with the county’s Golf Classic at Rossmore this weekend. Hard luck to Fearghal McMahon, who played for London in their narrow Connacht SFC loss to Galway last Sunday.
Schools: Hard luck to all involved with the St. Macartan’s College team that fell short in the Brock Shield Final.
Clubhouse: The Monaghan Harps clubhouse is available to book for functions. Please contact Paudge Connolly on 085 8589135 or Rose Donnelly on 086 0825782 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience.
Pitches: Training schedules for all teams are in place. Coaches are asked to please ensure that gates and dressing rooms are locked and all equipment, bottles etc. is removed from the pitch after training sessions.
Hurling: U-15: Our fixture against Keady on Monday was postponed and will be re-fixed for a future date.
Senior: We travelled to Clontibret last Thursday for round two of the Silver Hill Foods Development Hurling League. The Harps led for most of what was a very evenly contested game throughout. While Clontibret at times relied on frees to keep them in the game, there is no doubt that both teams were well matched in terms of the intensity they brought to the field. Aidan Burns opened the scoring for the Harps in the fifth minute, before doubling his tally a minute later. Throughout the half he was ably supported by scores from Maurice McKenna, Brendan McQuaid and Ruairí Forde in keeping the Harps in front at half-time by 1-10 to 0-9. The Harps had a slower start to the second half, with Clontibret accounting for most of the scoring, but an Aidan Burns goal in the 39th minute restored the Harps’ lead. 1-1 off the stick of John Lowry in the last 15 minutes and great defensive work from Dylan McAree and Seamie McLoughlin was enough to see the Harps pick up their second win of the season on a 3-14 to 0-17 scoreline. Next up is a home tie against Truagh this evening (Thursday). Throw-in is at 7.45pm.
Team and scorers: S McLoughlin; D McAree, J Lowry (1-1); T Croarkin, C Power, S Conway; M McKenna (0-2), B McQuaid (0-2); C Devlin, A Burns (2-7), L Mulligan; R Forde (0-2), L Treanor.
Subs: P Meehan for McKenna.
Ladies: U-16s: Well done on a recent win v Éire Óg in round two of the league. Next up is a home game v Tyholland on Monday (May 12) at 7pm.
U-14s: Well done on winning in Inniskeen on bank holiday Monday in round two of the league on a 4-14 to 4-10 scoreline.
Website: Our new club website is now live. See www.monaghanharps.gaa.ie to keep up to date with our latest club news and fixtures.
O’Neills: A range of Harps gear can now be bought online from O’Neills website. See the club’s social-media pages for the link.
Notes: Anyone who has news for inclusion in the club notes can send an email to pro.monaghanharps.monaghan@gaa.ie by Tuesday morning.
By cshalvey Thu 9th May
