Articles in the Soccer Category

Shelbourne 1 Monaghan United 2 Monaghan United moved to within four points of the top of the table with a win over Shelbourne in Tolka Park on Friday night. Sean Brennan put Monaghan ahead after a half hour of play. Shels equalised in the second half through Philip Hughes, but Monaghan didn’t wait long before winning the match through Ryan Brennan after 69 minutes. A nice exchange of passes with Ryan Brennan, along with some loose Shels marking, gave John Reilly a clear shot on goal just inside the Shels ...

Monaghan United 3 Longford Town 2 Monaghan United fans, youse are spoilt! The excitement just keeps coming at Gortakeegan this season, but no matter how nail-biting the finals weeks of the Mons promotion push becomes, it will have to go some to match the exultant emotions let loose on the Newbliss Road last Friday evening when Ryan Brennan, displaying iceman coolness, dispatched the goal in the final seconds of added time that secured his side a thrilling comeback victory over Longford Town, writes Peter Hughes. If ...

Monaghan United manager Roddy Collins has issued a message of thanks to the people of the locality for the support expressed for him during his disciplinary struggles with the Football Association of Ireland. Collins was speaking following the issuing of the findings of the FAI’s Independent Appeals Committee, which on Tuesday made known its decision on the appeal taken by the Mons boss against a finding of the Association’s Disciplinary Committee that he was in breach of FAI rules governing “disparaging comments” for comments he made on RTE Radio’s ...

Monaghan United 3 Waterford United 1 TIn a week that saw some national newspaper commentators make light of Monaghan United’s promotion credentials, Roddy Collins’ charges offered the perfect riposte with this stirring come-from-behind victory over a powerful Waterford United side at Gortakeegan on Friday night, writes Peter Hughes. The win, which gives the Mons some vital breathing space over Limerick in the Airtricity League Division One battle and brings them within a point of Cork City with a game in hand over the Leesiders, was accomplished on ...

Athlone Town 0 Declan ‘Fabio’ O’Brien’s ninth league goal of the season sufficed for Monaghan United to keep up with the promotion-chasing pace and secure this important win over a much improved Athlone Town team at Gortakeegan on Friday night, writes Peter Hughes. With Cork City inflicting an emphatic defeat on pacesetters Shelbourne, three points became de rigueur for Roddy Collins’ side in a match that evolved into a test of discipline and patience against a tight Town unit who eventually emerged from their conservative chrysalis to contribute a mounting ...

Limerick FC 0 Monaghan United 2 With promotion very much in the sights of both sides this game promised much and the two sides set out their stalls from the start. Monaghan made the better start and in the opening ten minutes most of the pressure was coming from them. Limerick looked dangerous on the counter attack especially Joe Gamble who was getting down the right wing and getting behind the defence. Monaghan United’s manager recognised this threat and decided to man-mark Gamble which had the desired ...

Monaghan United 1 Mervue United 2 A shellshocked Monaghan United went down to only their third league defeat of the season when they were unable to fully retrieve the deficit of two own goal concessions despite having the monopoly of play against Mervue United at Gortakeegan on Friday night, writes Peter Hughes. It was Mervue’s second victory over the Mons this season, and the Galway men’s emerging reputation as a United bogey side reached full flower in a bizarre game. Leaving aside the ill-fortune that ...

The prestigious homecoming beckons for former Monaghan United goalkeeper Aaron McCarey when his English Premiership side Wolverhampton Wanderers take the field at Gortakeegan on Tuesday, July 12 next for a high-profile friendly game. A Wolves selection expected to feature the highly regarded Monaghan teenager in the No 1 jersey of the Midlands club he signed for last year will take on Roddy Collins’ side as part of their boss Mick McCarthy’s preparations for the kick-off of the new Premiership campaign in August. The intensity of interest the fixture ...

Monaghan United 1 Cork City FC 1 The satisfaction that Monaghan United’s burgeoning troop of home game fans will have derived from watching their team dominate one of their main Airtricity League Division One promotion rivals was undercut with frustration on Friday night when Cork City escaped fortress Gortakeegan with a point despite being reduced to ten men for a compelling game’s final third, writes Peter Hughes. Playing some of their most forceful football of the campaign, the Mons, ahead thanks to an audacious 10th minute Sean Brennan free-kick, had the ...

There was a strong Cavan -Monaghan presence in the Irish U-16 squads which took on Belgium in international Friendlies during the week. Monaghan United’s Fergal McMahon and Kevin Loughran both started for the ‘B’ team with Kevin putting the Boys in Green in front on 42 minutes. Meanwhile Jonathan Leddy from Cavan Shamrocks and Ryan O’Reillly of Ballyjamesduff both came on as second half substitutes for the ‘A’ team in a game which Ireland lost 1-0 but dominated as a whole. REP OF IRELAND U-16 ‘A’ 0 BELGIUM U-16 ‘A’ ...