Articles in the Sport Category

By JOHN GRAHAM There was a very large and enthusiastic attendance at last Saturday nights presentation of the Northern Standard/R & S Printers sponsored Monaghan GAA Awards for 2014, the awards acknowledging the efforts and achievements of so many people, players, club officials and team mentors, both on and off the field during 2014. The awards were spread across the whole spectrum of GAA activity in the County, the player awards acknowledging excellence on the field of play in all grades while others acknowledged the efforts and achievements of people involved in ...

Monaghan begin their Allianz National Football League Division One campaign with a local derby against Tyrone in Omagh this Saturday evening. by COLM SHALVEY Having hung on to finally defeat Tyrone in the Ulster championship last summer for the first time in 25 years, Monaghan will be determined to prove that was no one-off this weekend in a game likely to spark much more interest than typical end-of-January fare. A first senior win at Healy Park since a league game in 1998 is on offer for Malachy O’Rourke’s side, as well ...

Last Saturday night also saw presentations to the referees who handled the various Championship and League Finals in 2014 with a Special Award of Youth Referee to Sean McDonnell of Killanny. The awards were presented by County Secretary Anita Finnegan. Senior Football Championship Final Referee Dermot Lynch (Killeevan) refereed his first SFC final in 2014. Intermediate Football Championship Final Referee Donal Connolly (Scotstown) refereed his first Intermediate Football Championship Final in 2014 having been in charge of the Junior Football Championship Final in 2013. Junior Football Championship Final Referee Niall McKenna (Emyvale) started refereeinbg ...

It’s full focus on the Allianz National Football League for Monaghan after their Dr McKenna Cup campaign ended in Cavan last Sunday. by COLM SHALVEY Like in the previous day’s Hastings Cup game, a poor first-half performance by Monaghan left them trailing by seven points, but when they upped it after the restart, it created an atmosphere and tension rarely seen at this time of year. There were no signs of what was to come in a subdued first 35 minutes, where Monaghan were much too casual, standing off their opponents ...

Monaghan 0-15 Westmeath 1-09 By JOHN GRAHAM THE outcome for Monaghan in the end was a place in the Hastings Cup Shield Semi-Final when they held out for a three points victory over Westmeath in a tough, no holds barred contest that was played in greasy and wintry conditions in Inniskeen on Saturday afternoon last. This was the game of the two proverbial halves, Westmeath the dominant force in the first half as Monaghan struggled to put anything like a cohesive game together with far too many unforced errors, but then taking over almost ...

By PATRICK SMYTH Players representing schools from seven counties received their Post-Primary All-Star awards at a function on Friday night at Kelly’s Inn. Once again, county Monaghan featured prominently in the annual awards ceremony. There was double joy for the famed St. Louis, Carrick place of sporting and academic excellence. Two St. Louis students, Holly Lynch and Lauren Jones from St. Louis, Carrickmacross were among the elite players chosen for the second consecutive year; a distinct honour in itself. Holly was chosen for her superior goal keeping skill while at the other end of the ...

Last Sunday’s loss to Down means that Monaghan’s Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Section A campaign hinges on this weekend’s rescheduled local derby at Kingspan Breffni Park. by COLM SHALVEY A forgettable afternoon in Clones saw Monaghan recover from conceding a very early goal to edge ahead on a couple of occasions either side of half-time, only to fall away and concede five unanswered points between the 54th and 67th minutes. It took less than half a minute for Dónal O’Hare to breach Monaghan’s rearguard and fire to the ...

Down 1-12 Monaghan 0-11 By JOHN GRAHAM A sharper, hungrier, if somewhat wasteful, Down got their first victory of this year’s Dr McKenna Cup campaign when they proved too strong for Monaghan in most departments in this lively if at times somewhat scrappy encounter that was played in greasy and wintry conditions in Clones on Sunday last. The prevailing conditions did mitigate against open flowing football yet both sides produced some good passages of play and Down did show a remarkable improvement on their form in their opening game against Cavan. They dominated this ...

Mayo  2-11 Monaghan 0-07 By COLM SHALVEY MONAGHAN fell to a heavy defeat away to Mayo in the U-21 Hastings Cup last Saturday. Monaghan had their fair share of possession throughout, including when playing into a strong breeze in the first half, but a much more clinical Mayo team found the net twice in two minutes at the start of the second quarter to open up a decisive gap. Having managed just one point against the wind, there was no way back for Monaghan, whose 12 wides included three decent goal chances. An impressive Mayo ...

Monaghan’s U-21s look unlikely to progress in the Hastings Cup – at least in the Cup competition – after a heavy defeat against a strong Mayo side last Saturday by COLM SHALVEY A nightmare spell midway through the first half, where Monaghan conceded two goals in quick succession, left the visitors facing an uphill battle, particularly when they reached the interval with a solitary point to their name. Monaghan should have been very much still in contention by the end of the first half, given the amount of possession they had, but ...