Junior B hurling v Rapparees

The eagerly aniticpated clash between the third teams of ourselves and Rapparees had to be delayed for 15 minutes this evening due to crowd congestion, but the patient crowd were rewarded with a fantastic display of scoring from both teams, with the final score being 2-19 to 0-31 in favour of the Rapps. Despite some heavy defeats to the Rapps in the last two years at this level our lads were as determined as ever. No stone was left unturned by management, and every detail was carefully analysed. Keith Swaine got a new plastic hurl for this 2018 season as he was nearly single handedly responsible for an ash shortage in Western Europe. He also reckons it allows him to get a crisper strike and I think this evening could have been the first time ever that a foam roller was seen in a Junior B dressing room.

The game started off well with Niall O’Loughlin opening the scoring, but the Rapparees were playing with the wind and proved to be more accurate to give them a 0-02 to 0-07 lead. An over the shoulder shot from the sideline by Colm McGannon and a few frees by Niall O Loughlin helped to close the gap to only a couple of points before the Rapps got another flurry of points to lead by 0-15 to 0-08 at half time. Playing with the wind in the second half our lads were reasonably confident of closing the gap, and the second half started brilliantly with a goal from Niall o Loughlin and a point from Conall Nolan. Another two points  each from James Gahan and Conall Nolan meant we closed the gap to just two points at one stage. Unfortunately, the Rapparees were able to introduce some fresh legs in their forwards and they got on top again.

Despite only missing one free, Niall O Loughlin was removed as free taker by Colm McGannon, who insists on perfection. His confidence was to be admired as he struck a long range effort from inside our own 65 straight over the bar, despite Ger Millar telling him not to take it. A second goal from James Gahan and another McGannon free once again closed the gap to just 2 points. The game was in the balance until the referee gave a harsh free to the Rapps, it was probably one of the few times in the game that Keith clearly hit the ball, but the referee didn’t change his mind despite some polite questioning from the sideline. A late flurry of 5 unanswered points by the Rapparees meant they ran out deserving winners, in what was a cracking game of free flowing hurling and some great scores.

Team: Darren Millar, Padraig Stafford, Barry Millar, Keith Swaine, Colin Hawkins, Peadar Lacey, Adrian O Loughlin, Conall Nolan, Arran Breslin, Colm McGannon, Niall O Loughlin, James Gahan, Cathal O Leary, Eugene Breslin, Micheal Stafford.

Scores: Niall O Loughlin 1-09, James Gahan 1-03, Colm McGannon, 0-04, Conall Nolan 0-03

AGM 2017

The AGM will take place on Friday 1st of December at 8pm in the Clubhouse. Motions are to be submitted in writing to Anne Fenlon or Sean McCabe by the 10th of November.

Nomination forms are also available from Anne and Sean.

The Annual Mass for deceased members will also take place on December 1st at 7pm in Monageer Church

Intermediate hurling v Crossabeg Ballymurn

Our intermediate hurlers made it two championship wins from two games this afternoon in Monamolin. A slow start left us 3 points to 1 behind, but thanks to some excellent long range scoring from Laurence Murphy and some accurate free taking from Brian O Loughlin we led at half time by 0-08 to 0-07. Ballymurn opened the scoring in the second half before we scored 2 unanswered points. A well worked move from Ballymurn resulted in a goal to put them a point ahead, and only for some excellent goalkeeping from Sean Murphy we may have conceded another couple. Scores from Brian O Loughlin, Shane Gahan and Diarmuid Fenlon put us a point ahead and some resolute defending from all of the backs meant we held on for our second 1 point win to leave us on 4 points from two games. Next up is the Shamrocks on August 12th at 7:30 in Farmleigh.

Team: Sean Murphy, liam Gahan, Chris Daly, Graham O Reilly, Niall O Reilly, Tommy Breen, Mick Sweeney, Ian Hawkins, Laurence Murphy, Stephen Murphy, Damien Fenlon, Cathal Walsh, Diarmuid Fenlon, Brian O Loughlin, Shane Gahan. Sub’s: Colm O Loughlin for Damien Fenlon, Peter Mernagh for Ian Hawkins

 

Scores: Brian O Loughlin 0-05, Laurence Murphy 0-04, Shane Gahan 0-02, Diarmuid Fenlon 0-02

Mixed Fortunes for Junior and Junior B Hurlers

Sunday started off with the Junior Hurlers playing Crossabeg-Ballymurn in Monageer and winning on a scoreline of 4-19 to 5-06. A fast start, scoring 1-02 within a few minutes set the tone for the Junior hurlers to score a convincing win. We lead by 2-08 to 2-03 at half time, despite playing against the wind, thanks to goals by James Donohoe and Niall O Loughlin , and points from Adrian O Dowd and James Gahan amongst others. The second half continued in a similar fashion with two further goals from Peter Mernagh and Niall O Loughlin, along with some excellent points from Diarmuid Fenlon. Conceding 5 goals would be a concern but there was never really any doubt as to the result. Team: Morgan Gahan, Patrick Walsh, Conal Nolan, Robbie Donnelly, Ian Hawkins, Paddy Breen, Sean McCabe, Cathal Walsh, Mark Walsh, Adrian O Dowd, Niall O Loughlin, Diarmuid Fenlon, Peter Mernagh, James Donohoe, James Gahan. Subs: Pa Walsh for Sean McCabe

 

The Junior B Hurlers faced the Shamrocks on Sunday afternoon and were beaten heavily by 1-23 to 1-09. The game started amid wet and windy conditions with our lads slow to start, but excellent score taking by Morgan Rowsome and a goal from Barry Millar meant we were behind by one at half time 1-06 to 0-10. The wind picked up in the second half and we struggled to play against it, with the Shamrocks taking many nice scores. Second half points by Tomas O Leary and Morgan Rowsome weren’t enough to make the game close. Team: Peter Mernagh, Cathal O Leary, Sean McCabe, Sean O Leary, Colin Hawkins, Keith Swaine, Micheal Stafford, Lee McHale, James Donohoe, Morgan Rowsome, Tomas O Leary, Colm McGannon, William Murphy, Barry Millar, Robbie Donnelly.

Field Evening

We will be hosting our annual field evening in the Monageer Parish Field (Beside Parish Hall) on this Sunday 5th of June, after the Patron at 6.30 pm in Monageer. There will be all the usual games/events such as bottle stalls, cake sales, golf, horseshoes, guess the weight of a lamb, hurling target shooting, and many others during the course of the evening.

We would like to invite all in the community and those who have come from further afield to come along and join in the fun, in what promises to be glorious weather conditions.

Also if anyone has anything they would like to donate as a prize for the raffle or for one of the competitions they would be greatly appreciated, or if you would like to donate cakes/buns for the cake sale they would be very welcome also.  Any of the above can be dropped off to the hall on sunday morning between 11am and 1pm, or they can be brought along in the evening.

Please come along and have an enjoyable evening out in the sun.

Hurling Championship Second Round

The second round last weekend started with the Juniors playing away to Rathnure. A game which was slow to start and where scores were hard to come by. Rathnure were hurling with a strong wind in the first half but nonetheless a good display by our backs meant they could only score 2 points in the first half, while at the other end some late points meant the half time score was 0-05 to 0-02 in our favour. The second half started disastrously for our lads conceding two quick goals, and another one a few minutes later, however we responded well and kept getting scores before we had a stroke of luck when a long range free by Peter Mernagh went just under the cross bar to record our only goal of the game. Further points from Conall Nolan, Matthew Dunne and Mick Sweeney helped us into a clear lead which we maintained for the remainder of the game. Final score Monageer Boolavogue 1-14 Rathnure St Annes 3-03.

 

The intermediate hurling team were in action the following day against Oylegate. Similar to the previous week we started the game well only and thanks to a well taken kicked goal by Padraig Flynn we went into a 3 point lead. Some more accurate shooting and good defending saw us take a 6 point lead at half time, 1-10 to 0-07. Similar to the previous week against Bunclody we had a poor start to the second half, and allowed Oylegate too many easy shots for points, which reduced the lead to 3 points. Scores from Shane Kehoe and Padraig Flynn helped to steady the ship but the same silly mistakes under pressure were again our undoing, and Oylegate kept taking their scores to win in the end by 0-18 to 1-13. It was certainly an improved performance from the first round game, but the same mistakes were made, which in the end cost us the two points. Unfortunately Niall O Loughlin received an injury which is likely to see him out of action for a few weeks at least, but hopefully he will be back in time to play a role in our efforts to qualify for the quarter final.

Championship Update

Our intermediate and Junior ‘a’ hurling teams were both in action over the weekend.

The intermediates were playing Bunclody on Sunday. We started the game well with two early points but conceded an unlucky goal which was followed by a couple of quick points. We then traded points until half time, when the score was 1-07 to 0-07 to bunclody. The main damage was done early on in the second half when bunclody raced into a 1-13 to 0-09 point lead thanks to some nice point taking and some poor play from our lads. The game looked over when bunclody scored their second goal which was a rebound from a free which hit the post. 2-13 to 0-09. However in fashion similar to last years county final our lads responded well and never gave up. Two goals from substitute Cathal Walsh and a nice point left only three points between the teams with a couple of minutes to play. 2-13 to 2-10. Unfortunately we couldn’t complete the comeback, despite creating some goal scoring chances. In the very last minute we conceded a third goal to give bunclody a 6 point win…. 3-13 to 2-10. We play Oilgate next week which will be a difficult game but hopefully our lads can learn from the errors made at the weekend and come out on top in round 2. The team was: Sean Murphy, Niall O reilly, Chris Daly, Liam Gahan, Graham o Reilly, Tommy Breen, Dean Fenlon, Damien Fenlon, Laurence Murphy, Bertie Gahan, Niall O Loughlin, Brian O Loughlin, Mark Gahan, Stephen Murphy, Padraig Flynn. Subs: Shane Kehoe for Damien Fenlon, Cathal Walsh for Bertie Gahan.

 

The juniors played Glynn Barntown on Monday afternoon in Monageer. There was a slow start to the game with Glynn getting the upper hand thanks to a well taken goal, but we responded well with goals from James Gahan and Peter Mernagh to leave the half time score 2-03 to 1-03 in favour of Monageer. The second half started very well with a score almost immediately. We then shared points with Glynn right until the end of the game, showing great fight and determination. The Juniors play Rathnure on Friday night in Rathnure and a win here should see us a long way towards making the quarter finals. The team was; Morgan Gahan, Patrick Walsh, Liam Gahan, Ray O Brien, Sean McCabe, Paddy Breen, Paul Gahan, Mick Sweeney, Ian Hawkins, Stephen Lacey, Matthew Dunne, Sean Roche, Peter Mernagh, Adrian O Dowd, James Gahan. Subs: Declan Kelly for James Gahan.

Adult League Updates

The Junior Footballers were the first adult team to be back in action this season. Unfortunately they lost out heavily to Tara Rocks in the league first round. The second round against the Starlights was a much better display but lost out narrowly by conceding some sloppy late goals.

The intermediate hurlers had a mixed start to their campaign in the higher grade. In the first round of the league we lost out to craanford by 5 points, but in the second round comfortably beat oulart on a scoreline of 5-17 to 4-12 despite conceding three late goals.

The junior hurlers have lost both league games so far despite playing well for many stages in the games. Goals again were the problem on both occasions as we lost out to oulart and buffers alley respectively.

The Junior B Hurlers have been on the losing side of two very tight games both against second teams of Blackwater and Askamore.

Unfortunately overall not a great start to the league campaign but lets hope for good improvement over the next few weeks in the build up to the championship