Articles tagged with: monaghan united

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...