Articles in the GAA Category

COLM SHALVEY “Are they out?” That innocuous three-word question from Malachy Clerkin’s wife to The Irish Times sportswriter started his Monday column that succinctly summed up Monaghan supporters’ frustration at watching from afar as the county made a painful exit from the championship last Saturday. A miserable, wet early afternoon at a St. Tiarnach’s Park considerably emptier than it would have been for a McKenna Cup shadow-boxing exercise made for the strangest backdrop to the latest instalment of the age-old rivalry between Monaghan and Cavan, but the game would eventually produce ...

COLM SHALVEY Raymond Galligan says the quick turnaround from last weekend means Cavan have quickly consigned their relegation from Division Two of the Allianz NFL to the back of their minds. “It was initially very disappointing, but the quick turnaround leaves us with no other option but to get straight back in and move forward as quick as possible. In years gone by, you’d have a break of six or seven weeks before championship, but our full focus is on Monaghan now.” The Cavan captain admits “not every team is going ...

COLM SHALVEY It’s championship but not as we have come to know it. When Monaghan and Cavan renew their age-old rivalry in an empty St. Tiarnach’s Park on Saturday afternoon, their SFC hopes in this most condensed campaign will be on the line in a throwback to old-school knock-out football. The teams go into this championship campaign after experiencing contrasting fortunes last weekend, with Monaghan securing a seventh straight year in Division One of the Allianz National Football League and Cavan seeing results go against them as they dropped to the ...

COLM SHALVEY REPORTS After an unprecedented break between rounds five and six, the Allianz NFL reaches its conclusion this weekend with Monaghan once again having their top-flight status in their own hands. Despite a narrow loss to Kerry when the league eventually got back underway, Monaghan know they can secure a seventh straight year in Division One if they can return to winning ways against Meath in Clones on Sunday. Kerry led from start to finish as they moved to the top of the table, but there were still some bright ...

MONAGHAN V MAYO Nicky Rackard Cup O’Neill Park,Clontibret, 2-00pm, Saturday Monaghan open their Nicky Rackard Cup campaign on Saturday with a home game against Mayo. That game was originally fixed for St Mary’s Park, Castleblayney, but was switched to Clontibret earlier this week, writes JOHN GRAHAM. When the draws were first made Monaghan were grouped in the redrawn 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup along with Armagh, Donegal, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Tyrone and Warwickshire. Those were then broken up into two groups of four with Monaghan in a group along with Mayo, Donegal and Warwickshire. ...

Monaghan braced to begin title defence COLM SHALVEY Monaghan are set to belatedly begin their defence of the Ulster MFC in a preliminary- round derby against Cavan in Clones on Saturday. Having won back-to-back provincial titles for the first time in nearly 80 years, Monaghan face a hard road to a potential record hat-trick at this level. With the minor grade mirroring its senior counterpart for 2020 by reverting to an old-school knockout format, the sole focus this weekend will be on getting through to a potential quarter-final against Antrim. While ...

Monaghan chase crucial points against Kerry COLM SHALVEY REPORTS All of seven and a half months after round five of the 2020 Allianz NFL, Monaghan aim to secure their top-flight status when Kerry make the long trip to Inniskeen on Saturday. Following an unprecedented break between National League games after the Covid-19 emergency saw the 2020 schedule ripped up, with the club scene eventually returning in late July, the Division One table sees just three points separating the top six teams. Considering that it feels like an age since the suspension of ...

COLM SHALVEY Monaghan youngster James Gilliland has been making waves on the Irish kart racing scene. Having picked up a love for motorsport at an early age via his father Paul, Aghabog native Gilliland started kart racing in mid 2018, racing in the Rotax minimax class for kids aged between 11 and 14. He quickly picked up the knack for it, finishing third in his first race in Watergrasshill, Co Cork, before following that up with a string of good results. He finished his debut season with a win that saw ...

John Graham reports Serious doubts have been cast on whether or not this year’s inter-County, provincial and All Ireland Championships will take place following the shock revelations of the suspension of all club activity across the island. That decision was taken in the light of the increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases and the fact that there was widespread flouting of the restrictions by crowds in some parts of the country following the completion of County Championships in the various counties. It is generally believed that the tipping point was reached following ...

The Monaghan GAA senior footballers and management’s recent ‘shave or dye’ fundraiser resulted in well over 30,000 euro being presented to representatives from local cancer services and the Holy Family Special School this week, writes COLM SHALVEY The county team, whose 2020 season was put on hold since early March, set an ambitious target of €30,000 for their fundraising campaign that saw each member of the set-up either shave or dye their hair back in July, resulting in several peroxide hairdos being on show during the recent club championships, which finished ...