Fixtures: Wednesday, May 15: SFL v Latton (Away) at 7.45pm

Thursday, May 16: DHL S-F v Clontibret (Home) at 7.30pm

Friday, May 17: RFL Division Three v Currin (Home) at 7.45pm

Saturday, May 18: Under-14 FL Division One v Emyvale (Away) at 1.15pm; Under-14 FL Division Five v Emyvale (Away) at 12pm

Monday, May 20: Under-14 HL v Carrickmacross (Away) at 7.30pm

TBA: MHL Final Truagh Harps v Cootehill

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 8, 14, 19 and 25. Jackpot of €4,900 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Liz Brennan c/o herself; €40 Joe & Deirdre Connolly c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Davina Carolan c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Roger McQuaid c/o Ciarán Cuddy. Jackpot for Sunday, May 19 is €5,000 and Mary and Fergus Coyle are on duty. All welcome. The Monaghan Harps Lotto plays an integral role in the running of the club. If you want to volunteer to get involved in any way (e.g. selling tickets), please contact any committee member.

 

Seniors: Our SFL game away to Latton was postponed last Sunday and will now take place tomorrow night (Wednesday). Sunday’s scheduled game against Castleblayney has been postponed due to Monaghan’s Nicky Rackard Cup match.

 

Dance: Just over a week remains until our fundraising dance night with music from The Outlaws at the Hillgrove Hotel on Friday week, May 24. Tickets, costing €10, are available now from Seán Boyle and other club members as well as local outlets. All support would be very much appreciated.

 

Reserves: We will host Currin in the RFL Division Three on Friday evening.

 

U-12: Both of our Under-12 football teams won their spring league finals in Cloghan last Saturday. First up, the second team, managed by Jimmy Croarkin and Pádraig Callan, had an excellent win over Aghabog. Despite playing against the wind in the first period, our lads hit the ground running, with Darragh Croarkin, Dean Doherty and Adam McGarry among the scorers as they built up a healthy lead. The one-way traffic continued in the second half, as Shay Cooney, Adam and Darragh helped to keep the scoreboard ticking over, while Tiernan O’Rourke, James McKinney, Liam Conway and Nathan Lavery broke up numerous Aghabog attacks and played great passes through to the forwards. All substitutes also contributed well to an excellent win.

Team Ben Myers; Tiernan O’Rourke, James McKinney, Liam Conway; Nathan Lavery, Dean Doherty; Shay Cooney, Adam McGarry, Darragh Croarkin.

Subs: Che Treanor, Ryan McSkane, James Curley, Brian McAteer, Conor Treanor, Diarmuid McGee, Evan Meehan

Then it was over to the first team, managed by Finbarr Conlon and Chris Conway. Our lads took a while to find their feet, as Inniskeen put the wind at their backs to good use to lead at the break, despite the best efforts of the likes of Oisín Fagan, Lorcan O’Rourke and Killian Conlon. It was a different story after the restart, as the Harps gave an improved performance, with every player upping their game. Lorcan, Brendan Óg Duffy, Lochlainn Power and Shay Cooney helped themselves to scores to help turn the game around and the Harps went on to secure a second win of the day.

Team: Ericus; Killian Conlon, Andrew Lyden, Oisín Fagan, Killian Treanor; Lorcan O’Rourke, Brendan Óg Duffy; Stephen Ward, Luke Coyle, Lochlainn Power, Oran Ó Caoláin.

Subs: Shay Cooney, Tiernan O’Rourke, Liam Conway.

Well done to all involved.

 

Minors: Our minor footballers fell to a 3-12 to 2-9 defeat at home to Magheracloone last Tuesday evening. Despite taking an early lead through a Niall Treanor point, our lads started slowly, allowing Magheracloone to gain the upper hand. Points from Fearghal McMahon (two), Evan Morahan and James Keelaghan kept the Harps in touch, but Magheracloone found the net for the second time to move six points clear. A goal by Kevin Loughran, either side of points from James and Fearghal, closed the gap, but our lads still trailed by 2-6 to 1-7 at half-time. A Jason McHugh goal helped us draw level just after the restart, but we only managed another two points – from Fearghal and Evan – as Magheracloone pulled away. Friday’s game against Truagh fell foul of the unseasonable weather.

Team and scorers: Christopher McGonnell; Ahmed Gamal, Dónal McCarthy; Turlough Clerkin (Capt.), Carl Foentjies, Niall Treanor (0-1); James McKenna, Kevin Loughran (1-0); Mustafa Gamal, Evan Morahan (0-2), Ciarán McQuaid; Jason McHugh (1-0), Fearghal McMahon (0-4, 2f), James Keelaghan (0-2).

Subs used: Tiarnán Bramley, Conor Burns.

 

U-16: The Under-16 FL game against Carrickmacross, which was due to take place last Thursday, was called off due to an unplayable pitch.

 

U-14: Both of our Under-14 football teams travel to Emyvale this Saturday, with the Division Five game getting things underway at 12 noon, followed by the Division One fixture at 1.15.

 

Hurling: An unplayable pitch meant the Harps had to concede home advantage and travel to Inniskeen in their Development League match last Thursday. With a much-changed team from the win over Clontibret, the Harps were nonetheless eager to finish the league stage with a 100% record. This would guarantee finishing in top spot along with a home semi-final. Although the conditions underfoot in Inniskeen were still poor due to a day of heavy rain, both teams served up an honest and competitive game of hurling. Despite Inniskeen starting the better of the two teams, it was the Harps who took the initial lead with a Niall Hahessy point. Inniskeen’s early dominance was to eventually show, as they rattled off the next five points, but the Harps’ response to this through Ross Corbett was emphatic and ultimately decided the game. Four goals in five minutes from the full forward left Inniskeen shell-shocked, before Aodhán Óg McAnespie added a fine point to make the half-time score 4-2 to 0-6. The second half was as keenly contested as the first as the teams traded points throughout meaning Inniskeen were unable to eat into their deficit. Points from Maurice McKenna (two), Aodhán Óg and substitute Conor Curley kept the Harps at arm’s length throughout. A second clean sheet in a row will no doubt satisfy the management, as James Greenan, Alan Lee and Robbie Healy dealt well with any Inniskeen ventures into the Harps defensive third of the field. The game finished on a scoreline of 4-6 to 0-10 in favour of the Harps. The semi-final is at home to Clontibret this Thursday at 7.30pm.

Team and scorers: James Greenan; Robbie Healy, Alan Lee; Aidan Connell, Gavin Baxter, Jack Lee; Aodhán Óg McAnespie (0-2), Alan Ryan; Niall Hahessy (0-1), Maurice McKenna (0-2), Brendan McQuaid; Ross Corbett (4-0), Frank Burke.

Subs used: Conor Curley (0-1), Éanna Finlay, Conor O’Neill, Paul Lee.

Our minor hurling game away to Cootehill was called off last Sunday due to a waterlogged pitch. The league final v Cootehill is on in Cloghan on Saturday at 5pm.

Our Under-14s had a good win on Sunday evening in their league match at home to Cootehill. It was good to see the lads continue their good form after their championship final win two weeks ago. An overall great team performance saw Niall Ward, Nathan O’Donoghue and Cillian Sherry in goal standing out in particular. Next game is away to Carrickmacross on Monday at 7pm.

With U-14 matches ongoing and U-12s and U-16s coming up, all underage hurlers are encouraged to get down to Rooskey on Sundays at 12pm, where there are a number of coaches involved in ensuring plenty hurling for all age groups every week.

 

Jerseys: A number of the senior hurlers’ jerseys are still missing. Could everyone please check kitbags etc. to make sure they don’t have any of these jerseys.

 

Cúl Camp: This year’s GAA Cúl Camp at Gavan Duffy Park will take place from July 15-19.

 

County: Good luck to the county hurlers in Saturday’s Nicky Rackard Cup quarter-final against Sligo in Inniskeen.

 

Ladies: Senior and minor training continues this Friday at 6.30pm on the training field. Last weekend, we commenced the Division One Reserve League with a defeat away to Donaghmoyne. The team was: Allison Treanor, Laura McManus (Captain), Maria Ferguson, Hannah Clerkin, Orla Whelan, Jennifer Treanor, Tiarna Lavelle, Emma Clerkin, Sinead Maguire, Eimear O’Rourke, Tara Reilly and Una Rooney.  This weekend, we host Killanny in the Division Two League. Please note the Senior Championship Preliminary Round has been fixed for June 26/27/28 v Truagh. Sinéad Maguire is the 2013 senior captain, while Danielle Mulligan is vice-captain. Laura McManus is the 2013 reserve captain, with Niamh Maguire as vice-captain.

U-16 training times Thursdays 7-8 and Saturdays 10.30-11.30. Please contact Gerard, Catherine or John for further details. U-14s are welcome to attend U-16 training if they wish to do so. Last Thursday, we lost by 2-11 to 2-10 Away to O’Neills. The team was Clara Morgan, Shannon Donnelly, Hannah Clerkin, Laura Duffy, Alanna Meighan, Eimear O’Rourke (Capt.), Niamh Tibby, Emma Clerkin, Aisling Ferguson, Carla Doherty, Niamh Corrigan and Emma Veale. Next game is at home to Truagh on Thursday at 7pm.

Please contact Kenny on 087 7053802 for further details on Under-14 training. The U14s were defeated by Latton and Inniskeen in their last two games. Next game is at home to Truagh on Monday at 7pm. Management have requested all U-14 girls to be at training on Saturday mornings at 10.30.

Under-10 and Under-12 training on Saturdays at 5pm. Please contact Kenny for further details.

Registration for 2013 must now be paid to Allison Treanor. Seniors €55, under-18s €40, under-10s €25 and non-playing members €30.

Level 1 Grab Your Whistle referee course; if anyone is interested in completing same please give your name to David Mee.

Monaghan Sports Partnership are hosting an info workshop on the effects the new children’s legislation will have for both sports clubs and volunteers. The workshop will address upcoming changes in Garda Vetting and is on Tuesday, May 21 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm in Castleblayney Enterprise Centre. The workshop will be delivered by a qualified Child Protection in Sport Tutor. Attendance at the workshop is free of charge and is open to all who work with young people in the sporting world. Book your place by contacting Monaghan Sports Partnership at 042 9755126 or by email info@monaghansports.ie

The Monaghan Harps GAA club are hosting a fundraising dance in the Hillgrove Hotel on Friday, May 24. Tickets are €10 and all ladies club members, parents and supporters are encouraged to support this event as all funds raised will go towards the upkeep of our wonderful facilities in Gavan Duffy Park.

Ladies club flag day is scheduled for Saturday, May 25. All players, committee members and mentors will be required to collect on the day.

Our Annual Abbey Fanning Memorial 7-A-Side Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, June 8 at Gavan Duffy Park. All club members are expected to be available on the day to help.

Good luck to Muireann O’Rourke (Captain), Eimear O’Rourke, Tiarna Lavelle, Danielle Mulligan and David Mee from the Harps as well as the rest of the County Minor panel and management in their Ulster Minor Final on Saturday.