Articles in the Sport Category

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 ...

By COLM SHALVEY The overall winners of the Hillgrove Hotel-sponsored Club Monaghan half-time draw were presented with their prizes in Cloghan last Tuesday. Tickets were sold at each of the club championship games in the county this year, with winning tickets being entered into the grand draw after the completion of all the competitions. The list of prizes and winners is as follows: 300 litres of home heating oil (sponsored by TOP Cooltrim Oil): Jimmy Finnegan, Carrickmacross; iPhone: Kathleen McKenna, Truagh; €250 worth of fuel (sponsored by Aidan Woods Fuels): Sarah Doogan, ...

Emyvale 2-09 John Mitchels 0-12 EMYVALE moved through to the All Ireland Club Junior Football Championship semi final but they had to survive a second-half fight back by Liverpool side John Mitchels to book their place in Pairc na hEireann, Birmingham on Sunday last. Essentially it was their two goals in the first half that ultimately saw Emyvale over the line as they weathered the storm in testing conditions and came away with the all-important win which sees them advance to a semi-final showdown against Kildare’s Two Mile House but their resolve was ...

By Colm Shalvey The 2014 Official Monaghan GAA Yearbook is available now throughout the county at a cost of just €10. The yearbook, which comes in at over 400 pages, is a comprehensive and extensive review of another exciting 12 months for the county. Monaghan fell short of retaining the Ulster Senior and Minor Football Championship titles during the summer, but it was still a year in which the county’s flagship team won a second consecutive National League title on one of their three trips to Croke Park, where they finally ...

Largy College        2-11 Ballybay CC              1-08 By JOHN GRAHAM Largy College Clones staged a great final quarter recovery to clinch victory in this hugely entertaining and at times highly exciting under 16 final in Smithboro on Thursday afternoon last. Conditions on the day were extremely difficult, bitterly cold with a biting wind and intermittent driving rain, that did pose problems for both sets of players, but to their credit they rose above those conditions to produce some excellent passages of play although the conditions ...

Unlike this time 12 months ago, Monaghan don’t spend this Christmas as double Ulster football champions (quadruple, including the 2013 senior and minor ladies), but it’s fair to say that the county is in rude health looking ahead to 2015. by COLM SHALVEY Monaghan’s long unbeaten record in Clones eventually fell in July’s Ulster SFC Final against Donegal and they were put to the sword by Dublin in their All-Ireland quarter-final, but another Allianz National Football League promotion and winning a championship game at Croke Park for only the second time ...

By Colm Shalvey This evening, Thursday, December 4th, sees the elected officers of Monaghan County Board, the membership of the various subcommittees and the club delegates, gather in plenary session in the Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan, for Convention 2015. Convention is traditionally a time when the year just ending is reviewed in all its varying aspects and discussions take place and plans are made and outlined for the year ahead. Over the years though, the degree of business that is now conducted at County Convention has been greatly diminished with the result that ...