Articles in the GAA Category

By John Graham The clock is ticking towards D Day, which in football terms in Ulster is the date for the final of the senior football championship and that is on Sunday week, July 19th in St Tiarnach’s Park in Clones when Donegal will come to see if they can make it four out of the last five provincial titles while Monaghan will be seeking to make it two out of three. Monaghan last played in three Ulster finals in a row in 1921, 1922 and 1923 with the best they achieved ...

With ten days to go until Monaghan and Donegal lock horns, excitement is building for the third consecutive Ulster SFC Final between these teams. by COLM SHALVEY Monaghan’s preparations for the renewal of Ulster football’s big current rivalry have centred on injuries to Ballybay club-mates Drew Wylie and Christopher McGuinness. The elder Wylie brother’s knee injury is now said to be a less-serious medial ligament damage rather than the cruciate, as originally thought, which means he could still play some part in the championship, although it is very much a long shot ...

 A fimiliar foe awaits Monaghan in the Ulster Senior Football Championship Final after Donegal battled past Derry in Clones last Saturday. by COLM SHALVEY Donegal failed to hit the heights they reached in the wins over Tyrone and Armagh, but they got the job done and Rory Gallagher will be content that they are through to a fifth consecutive provincial final without any of the hype that followed those earlier games. Donegal were given a scare by Derry, but the only goal by Martin O’Reilly ten minutes into the second half proved ...

Monaghan will be hoping to have cause for celebration at Kingsppan Breffni Park, Cavan, on Sunday where they hope to clinch a place in the final of the Ladies Ulster Senior Football Championship against the defending champions Armagh. by CIARAN WARD With just days to go to the 2015 Ulster Senior Football championship semi-final clash with reigning holders Armagh, Monaghan team captain Sharon Courtney has expressed her belief that Monaghan are good enough to beat any opponent once they play to their potential. This Sunday’s eagerly awaited tie will be the full ...

Blackhill 1-08 Sean McDermotts 0-10 By JOHN GRAHAM A strong third quarter during which they built up a five points lead was ultimately the cushion that saw Blackhill get off to a winning start in this year’s Universal Graphics Junior Football Championship at the expense of Sean McDermotts in this fairly low-key and at times scrappy encounter that was played in greasy conditions in Clontibret on Sunday evening last. Sean McDermotts had slightly the better of the exchanges in an untidy first half when scores were at a premium and the sides were level ...

Monaghan 1-20 Fermanagh 0-13 MONAGHAN are safely through to their third Ulster Final in a row but it wasn’t until the latter stages of this exhilarating and at times frustrating contest that they put real daylight between themselves and a tenacious Fermanagh who pushed them to the limit repeatedly during the match at KIngspan Breffni Park last Sunday. Fermanagh were reduced to fourteen players in the 22nd minute of the second half when Ryan McCluskey was red carded for a follow through challenge on Owen Duffy when he was on the ground after ...

Monaghan are in a third consecutive Ulster SFC Final for the first time since the 1920s after they kept their cool to beat Fermanagh last Sunday. by COLM SHALVEY Monaghan were pushed for 55 minutes of this game, albeit without ever looking in real danger, before Ryan McCluskey’s sending-off helped open the floodgates in the closing stages. The teams were level five times in the first half, but Monaghan finished it with a flourish, as a Conor McManus free and a point by Darren Hughes, who finished from a very tight ...

So where will this one be won and lost? Monaghan are certainly the stronger team in that they are looking for a place in the final of the Ulster championship for the third year in row, they are playing in division 1 of the Allianz Football league and have retained senior status for the 2016 season, giving them an edge in both quality and experience against a Fermanagh team that had their first championship victory this year since 2010 and who were playing two divisions lower than Monaghan in league ...

Monaghan return to Cavan to take on Fermanagh in Sunday’s Ulster SFC semi-final with a place in a third consecutive provincial final within reach. by COLM SHALVEY Monaghan’s build-up to this game has been rocked by the news that Drew Wylie faces a long lay-off after he suffered a cruciate-ligament injury in Ballybay’s Senior Football League game against Inniskeen a fortnight ago. He is the third Monaghan player to suffer the dreaded knee injury in less than a year and just as 2013 All-Star corner-back Colin Walshe comes into contention ...

Kevin Carney says  Fermanagh football legend Peter McGinnity spent many seasons fighting the good fight. He believes a lot has to go right though for an upset to happen at Kingspan/Breffni Park this Sunday. On Sunday next at Kingspan/Breffni Park, Peter McGinnity will be more than an interested observer as Peter McGrath attempts to orchestrate the mother and father of championship upsets. The Roslea native watched with interest as Donegal guillotined Armagh’s Ulster SFC hopes last Sunday and believes that the result only served to underline the task facing his native county ...