The Armagh Harps Thread

[Rufus T Firefly]

No sign of Bonehead? Thought he would have been a shoe-in... ;-)

To be fair, I had only heard about Benny getting to Croker first - I think he was involved in a sprint finish with Fintan Sherry and Bonehead!! 

[Skiddybadoo]

Only one scheduled fixture to note this week:

Our U-18s take on Clan na Gael this Saturday (18 September) afternoon in the Minor Shield.  Throw-in is at 2.00pm in Abbey Park.

[Passing_Interest]

Big shout out for the Under 10s this evening lads.
Ended the season today by getting to the final of the Clann Eireann Tournament. Group victories against Naomh Brid of Belfast, St. Pauls of Lurgan were followed by a great QF win over the Ogs and a semi win over St. Peters. There was no fairy tale ending as the hosts beat us well in the final but as anyone who knows their underage football will tell you...there is no disgrace in losing to Clann Eireann at this level.
Good end to good year for a good wee team.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Big shout out for the Under 10s this evening lads.
Ended the season today by getting to the final of the Clann Eireann Tournament. Group victories against Naomh Brid of Belfast, St. Pauls of Lurgan were followed by a great QF win over the Ogs and a semi win over St. Peters. There was no fairy tale ending as the hosts beat us well in the final but as anyone who knows their underage football will tell you...there is no disgrace in losing to Clann Eireann at this level.
Good end to good year for a good wee team.

Well done to the whole squad for keeping the flag flying this late in the season. And also fair play to the management - if they pass on their knowledge to the youngsters, then look out for some great house parties football in the future!!

[stew]

Some great photies there all right, Benny being there first is no surprise, he could still pull on the jersey and not disgrace himself, flea is lookin well and I was very diasppointed not to see him.

On another note, many thanks to the club for the training session Stumpy put on for the kids I brought over, they all said that that was the highlight of the trip from a sporting perspective and they loved playing that wee friendly after being coached by stumpy, he was an absolute star and a credit to the club.

The Harps have taken a fair amount of stick over the years by clampetts on here, all I can say is that the club is in great hands and I was very proud to be a harpsman watching my wee team learn the basics of the greatest of games in Abbey park, they had a great time and again thanks to the Club for allowing us to participate.

[Skiddybadoo]

Two games to note in your diaries this week:

On Saturday, our Ladies take on Lavey, the Cavan champions, in the Intermediate Football Championship.  Throw-in is at 2.30pm in Abbey Park.

On Sunday, our Seniors face St. Michael's in the League.  Throw-in is at 2.00pm in Abbey Park.

[Goats Do Shave]

Two games to note in your diaries this week:

On Saturday, our Ladies take on Lavey, the Cavan champions, in the Intermediate Football Championship.  Throw-in is at 2.30pm in Abbey Park.

On Sunday, our Seniors face St. Michael's in the League.  Throw-in is at 2.00pm in Abbey Park.

Sort yourselves out for Sunday lads! 

[Skiddybadoo]

Notice:  Armagh Harps have six tickets for Sunday's All Ireland Ladies final- priced €20 each and are available on a first come first served basis from the Social Club.

[Skiddybadoo]

 
A Table Quiz and Disco will be held in the Charlemont Arms Hotel on Thursday 30 September in memory of Caroline Rice-Hynds and to raise funds for Action Cancer.  Caroline passed away in April following a lengthy and courageous battle against cancer.  Throughout this difficult time (and since) her four children continued to represent Armagh Harps at various levels, and Club members' participation at the evening would be greatly appreciated.
 
Entry is £5.00 Per Person and everyone is welcome.  Come along and bring a team!
 
 

[Rufus T Firefly]

Our Ladies Senior Football Team are putting bunting and flags up around the Club tomorrow night, in preparation for their big Ulster Club game on Saturday.

If you have a bit of spare time to help out, then please get down to the Club tomorrow for 7.00 pm.

[drici]

 

Killeavy 1-07 Armagh Harps 1-08   

Armagh Harps avenged last year's County final defeat to deny Killeavy the accolade of becoming Intermediate Champions just a year after winning the Junior Championship.

In a nail-biting encounter Aveen Dooley opened the scoring, which was immediately cancelled out by Shauna McCready. Siobhan Feeney took the lead for Harps again before Aileen Matthews snatched on a lose ball played in by Marianne Watters and slammed the ball to the net. Matthews showed her best form when she plucked a ball from the clouds, turned a kicked the ball over the bar with barely a glance at the posts. Aveen Dooley extended the Killeavy lead again after good work from Matthews before Fionnula McKenna pulled one back for the Harps and put a halt on the Killeavy momentum. Mc Cready combined with Paula Powell to set up Niamh Bratton for the final score of the half leaving the score line 1-3 to 0-4 in favour of Killeavy.

Two points from Shauna McCready and a superb individual effort from Fionnula McKenna cancelled an Aileen Matthews free kick and brought the sides level for the first time. Tanya McCoy was a rock at the back for Harps but Sharon Reel found a
way through the rearguard to put her side back in front. A free from Matthews was cancelled out again by a Niamh Bratton point following brilliant play by Shauna McCready. Aveen Dooley restored Killeavy's lead again but trailing by two points
in the dying seconds of the game Harps were awarded a free kick. Sinead McParland was told only a goal would do, so the Harps player stepped up and duly planted the ball past Nicola Cromie who had been outstanding for Killeavy throughout the game.

Tanya McCoy who had been a rock in the Harps defence carried the ball up the field and Killeavy had run out of time, left to rue missed opportunities and a freak ending.

It was a cracking game, very evenly matched and on the day a draw would have been a fair result but proud captain Paula Powell added another medal to her 1998 County medal and received the cup on behalf of an excellent Armagh Harps outfit who fully deserved their victory in a thrilling Final.

[Skiddybadoo]

Many thanks for posting that excellent report, drici.

Armagh Harps Ladies now take on Cavan champions, Lavey,  in the Intermediate Football Championship this Saturday (2nd October) afternoon.  This will be a great challenge for our Ladies as they make their foray into Ulster club football.  Throw-in is at 2.30 pm in Abbey Park and all are encouraged to lend their support as the push for Ulster honours begins.

Also, please note that our B Team will play St Peter's in the B League Northern Section semi-final this Sunday (3 October).  Throw-in is at noon at St Peter's ground.

[drici]

Ulster Intermediate Football Championship
Preliminary Round
Lavey (Cavan) 3-16 
Aodh Rua (Donegal) 1-04 

Quarter-Finals
Armagh Harps (Armagh) 4-11 
Lavey (Cavan) 2-15

Truagh Gaels (Monaghan) 7-13 
Devenish (Fermanagh) 1-05

Newry Shamrocks (Down) 0-12 
Ardtrea (Derry) 4-06

St. Dympnas (Tyrone) 2-14 
St Galls (Antrim) 6-14

Semi-Finals
09-10-10 (Saturday)
Armagh Harps v Truagh Gaels (Monaghan)
17:00 Abbey Park, Armagh
Eugene O Hare (Down)

Ardtrea (Derry) v St Galls (Antrim)

Final

[drici]

Ulster Intermediate Football Championship Semi Finals
Armagh Harps 0-05 
Truagh Gaels (Monaghan) 3-12

Ardtrea (Derry) 1-09 
St Galls (Antrim) 4-15

[drici]

DIVISON TWO

Harps earn promotion Play Off

St Michaels 2-08 Armagh Harps 3-08

Armagh Harps earned a promotion playoff with Granemore following their second half comeback to defeat relegation threatened St Michael's. Harps will take on Granemore on Saturday 3-30 at Ballymacnab with Extra Time if necessary. This fixture was in jeopardy at half-time against the Newtown side as they were leading Harps 1-5 to 1-4 with Darragh Faherty and Harps Gareth Swift trading goals. Harps played the sweeter second half tune sparked by a converted Joe Quigley penalty and tok a commanding lead until a second 3 pointer from Faherty threw St Michael's a lifeline which was quickly cut loose by a second Swift goal.