Articles in the Soccer Category

Their fascinating flirtation with cup football now behind them – no silverware, admittedly, but plenty of tension and thrills along the way – Monaghan United now turn their attention to the serious business of winning promotion from the Airtricity League First Division. Friday night’s Gortakeegan clash with Waterford United is the first of a half-dozen fixtures to be played out in the month ahead that will shape the destiny of senior soccer in Monaghan. When the second-placed Blues of Monaghan take to the field against the third-placed Blues of Waterford tomorrow evening ...

First Division Monaghan United’s wonderful EA Sports League Cup odyssey came to a disappointing but far from ignominious end at the Showgrounds on Saturday evening when a 14th minute Mark Blinkhorn goal confirmed the superiority of Premier Division side Sligo Rovers in what proved an absorbing cup final contest, writes Peter Hughes. Often under siege from the passing and movement of Paul Cook’s stylish side, United pulled a battling performance from their locker that ensured they still had a chance in the game right up to the tense final fifteen minutes, ...

Monaghan United showed no signs of meltdown in the furnace heat of campaigning on three competitive fronts when they summoned a polished, professional performance from the locker to see off a hardy Finn Harps side at Gortakeegan on Friday night, writes Peter Hughes. Goals from Philly Hughes and substitute Darragh Hanaphy in the opening and concluding scenes of the second half made the difference on the scoreboard.  But it was the way in which the Mons engaged with their difficult opponents that prepared the soil for this promotion-aiding victory to bloom. The ...

An early goal by Stephen McCrossan and a late, late strike by supersub Darragh Hanaphy ensured Monaghan United sidestepped a potential hangover from reaching the EA Sports Cup final only three days earlier when they accounted for an initially misfiring but finally dangerous Longford Town at Gortakeegan Friday night, writes Peter Hughes. The Mons weren’t note-perfect in this one, but it’s a measure of a good side that they can eke out a win when the engine powering their performance putters rather than purrs. McCrossan’s 20th minute strike – a flicked shot ...

The dramatist writing the script for Monaghan United’s extraordinary season excelled himself on Tuesday night, contriving a scenario worthy of the club’s historic achievement in reaching the final of the EA Sports League Cup, writes Peter Hughes … A frenetic semi-final clash with Dundalk has reached a tension point as tight as a tourniquet when, with four minutes on the clock and the prospect of extra time imminent, United midfielder Cathal O’Connor, latching onto an astute pass from substitute Darragh Hanaphy, turned onto his left foot and sent a low drive ...

One of the most significant matches of Monaghan United’s 25-year sojourn in top-flight soccer will kick-off at Gortakeegan at 8 p.m. next Tuesday evening, August 17 when Premier Division Dundalk bar United’s way to what would be their first-ever Cup final appearance in the senior ranks … This E.A. Sports Cup semi-final is sure to be one of the most atmospheric to be played at the Mons’ H.Q. in recent years – a high-stakes battle between sides who have cultivated a rivalry in the north-eastern part of the country that at ...

Monaghan Utd. 4 (Bermingham pen 34; McCrossan, 52, 61; Hanaphy 72) Mervue United 0 Monaghan United maintained their formidable consistency at Gortakeegan on Friday night by exploiting Mervue United’s loss of their goalkeeper Ger Hanley to a red card with an hour to play with an irrepressible performance that never threatened to let their depleted opponents off the hook, writes Peter Hughes. The inequality in numbers might cast some shadow over the margin of the Mons’ victory, but the home side were moving smoothly into control of the game at that point and ...

A deftly executed goal by the impressive Philly Hughes in the 31st minute established another major platform in Monaghan United’s promotion bid at Gortakeegan on Friday night, the score being enough to account for a talented Cork City Foras Co-op side in what proved a tense and absorbing encounter, writes Peter Hughes. There is a sense of growing conviction about the Mons that they can prevail over their First Division rivals and make it to the top tier of Irish football. And that confidence, articulated in admirable style on the ...

A comfortable 3-0 victory over First Division basement side Salthill Devon at Gortakeegan on Friday night saw Monaghan United place themselves in prime position for a concerted promotion push as the season enters a potentially defining phase after the recent summer hiatus, writes Peter Hughes. With a sequence of tough fixtures confronting them in the month ahead, United could afford no slip-ups against a side they had defeated 6-1 away from home in the opening weeks of the season. But although the Galwaymen have improved appreciably in the intervening period, ...

Mounting a recovery that must have seemed small beer compared to their four-goals-down resurrection against Athlone Town at the weekend, Monaghan United drew on their greater experience to deny A League side F.C. Carlow the achievement of a shock in this tense FAI Ford Cup third round replay at Gortakeegan on Tuesday night, writes Peter Hughes. Full report in this week’s issue