Articles in the Soccer Category

Monaghan United 1 Longford Town 0 A third goal in two games by hitman Declan ‘Fabio’ O’Brien saw Monaghan United maintain their momentum in the Airtiricity League First Division at Gortakeegan Friday night – but it was the thickness of the goal frame that ultimately guaranteed them the three points against a decent Longford Town side inspired by the second half introduction of their much heralded new signing Keith Gillespie, writes Peter Hughes. In the last of five fraught minutes of added time, the former Manchester United winger rolled back the ...

Monaghan United 3 Salthill Devon 0 Monaghan United moved smoothly into third place in the Airtricity League Division One when they clinically dispatched the challenge of Salthill Devon at Gortakeegan Friday night, writes Peter Hughes. While there was evidence prior to it that the Mons were going to have too much class and movement for a shaky-looking Salthill side, the ninth minute sending off of the visitors’ midfielder Mike Quirke for violent conduct put the opposition at an insurmountable disadvantage. The victim of ...

Clones Town Reserves 9 Cavan Celtic 0 Clones Town Reserves played Cavan Celtic last week knowing 3points would seal there very first League title, after slipping up to Blayney Academy the weekend before by drawing 2 -2 Clones were not going to let it slip away again, Clones Town Reserves scored with there first attack after Dean McElroy put Carl Woods through one on one, and there was only one winner there 1 – 0 after 20seconds, a shell shocked Cavan Celtic kicked off hoping to get back into the match ...

Monaghan United 2 Waterford United 0 Roddy Collins’ tenure as Monaghan United manager started positively at Gortakeegan on Friday night as his side battled through blizzard conditions to a hard-fought 2-0 victory over putative promotion rivals Waterford United, writes Peter Hughes. It wasn’t until substitute John Reilly rifled home in the closing minutes that the Mons had a secure grip on a victory set up by Alan Byrne’s emphatic close-in finish in the first half. Waterford, deprived of creative impetus by the loss of Colin Sinnott early in the game, were short on inspiration ...

“I hope you’re clapping like that at the end of the season,” Roddy Collins, pinstripe-resplendent in one of Louis Copeland’s finest, said to the Monaghan United supporters of the ovation they afforded him as he entered the crowded upstairs room of the Westenra Hotel on Friday afternoon for his first press conference as Monaghan United manager, just hours before he took charge of the side for the first time for their opening match of the 2011 Airtricity First Division season at a snow-swept Gortakeegan. “We’ll give you to tonight,” ...

Monaghan United take on Waterford United at Gortakeegan tomorrow, Friday night with a high-profile new manager in Roddy Collins at the helm and their promotion ambitions sharpened to a razor edge by the cruel disappointments experienced in the season just past, and the rather bizarre prelude to the current campaign. The Mons’ opening game in the 2011 Airtricity League First Division pits them against one of the strongest sides in the second tier of senior Irish football, and should act as an accurate early barometer of United’s capability to ...

The first words of Kenneth Wolstenholme’s immortal phrase of commentary from the 1966 World Cup Final – “They think it’s all over…” – flash into the mind when contemplating the extraordinary, and not yet completed, saga of Monaghan United’s 2010 competitive campaign. Downcast but philosophical fans who trudged from last Saturday’s meeting with Derry City at Gortakeegan, when the Candystripes were crowned as First Division champions, must have thought the last rites had been conducted on their side’s season. True, events had conspired to give Monaghan another chance at promotion, Waterford United’s ...

Mervue United 2 v 1 Monaghan United It has been a weekend of shock results in the Airtricity league and that trend continued in the only game on Saturday night as second from bottom Mervue United guaranteed their place in the First Division following a 2-1 win over title chasing Monaghan United. Just like Galway United put a serious dent in Bohemians title hopes last night, Mervue did the same to Monaghan’s title and promotion hopes in Terryland Park. It was also the first occasion that all three Galway clubs recorded wins ...

Monaghan United endured a frustrating Friday evening at Gortakeegan when, like William of Orange before them, they failed to breach the defensive walls of Limerick and lost valuable momentum in their bid to claim the Airtricity League First Division championship title as a consequence, writes Peter Hughes. In a game distinguished – if that’s the word – by some dreadful finishing from both sides, United, displaying hints of an inhibiting tension as the conclusion of their promotion campaign reaches its decisive phase, were never at their best. After an indifferent first half ...

With only two days to recover from their tough encounter against Cork City, Monaghan United went to Drom with every expectation of collecting all three points and improving their present goal difference. Salthill Devon were aware that they couldn’t do much about the first aim but they were determined to do something about the latter especially remembering that they conceded six goals on the previous occasion that the sides met in Galway. So what followed was a very scrappy encounter, Salthill employed the blanked defense and a very narrow pitch ...