Camogie in Monaghan had a mixed year in 2009 as they experienced the highs of expectation and the lows of disappointment and yet there were some exciting moments as well.

Leaving convention at the end of 2008 there was a great air of expectation and enthusiasm that a new team management set up was in place but ultimately it fell to Geraldine Clarke to plough a lone furrow. Later in the year the vastly experienced and talented hurler, Pat O'Connell came on board and his coaching skills and expertise were a major help.
The year's activity started with Monaghan taking part in Division 5 of the National Camogie Blitz with Monaghan in a section along with Donegal, Mayo, Louth, Wicklow and Cavan. Playing some excellent camogie Monaghan recorded victories over Donegal, Mayo, Louth and Cavan to book their place in the final where they met the host side Wicklow, the only team that had defeated them in the preliminary stages.

The fact that Monaghan only scored a single point in the first half playing with the advantage of a strong wind underlined the major task that faced them in the second-half. Full credit to the girls though they battled away in the second period against the wind with Eileen McElroy helping to create a goal chance for Lorraine McKenna but it wasn't enough and the game gradually slipped away from us as Wicklow continued to attack and tag on the vital scores to run out comfortable winners with nine points to spare on a final score of Wicklow 2-7, Monaghan 1-1. Monaghan Panel: Aisling McGeeney, Arlene McGeeney, Adele Kieran, Isobel Kieran (Inniskeen) Roisin McKenna, Donna McKenna, Mary McElroy, Eileen McElroy, Kate Deasy, (Castleblayney) Lorraine McKenna, Sharon McQuillan, Eilish McCarron, Emily McMeel, Brid Treanor, Karen Treanor (Truagh) Shauna McElvaney, Aisling McElvaney, Marie Greenan, Aideen Greene, Angela Kerr, Eleanor McQuaid, Nicola Morgan, Joanne McSkeane, Karen Boyle (Clontibret).

We had another chance of silverware in the Ulster junior championship and things looked promising when we defeated Donegal in the semi-final in Letterkenny by eighteen points on a final score of Monaghan 4-11, Donegal 1-2 to book our place in the final against Tyrone. Despite the fact that Monaghan were comprehensively beaten on the day the final was a great occasion for them to be part of as the Ulster Camogie Council used the staging of their senior final to put on a day celebration as part of the 125 celebrations in the province. The biggest crowds for years assembled in Pairc Esler in Newry with the spectators in their thousands treated to a whole variety of entertainment part of which was an U10 inter county competition for players from Monaghan and Tyrone which was played at the interval in the junior final. What a fantastic occasion for these young children, it was something they will never forget. Monaghan U10 team: Tara McNally, Emily Madden, Paula Ward, Rioghnach Duffy, Sarah McMeel, Cara Treanor, Mary Duffy, Eileen Cullen, Arlene Leonard, Michelle Forde, Leagh Creighton.

In the junior championship itself Tyrone were stronger in practically every position and we were under severe pressure right from the start. In fact in the first half it was only the skills of Roisin McKenna in goals that kept us in touch but we got little change at the other end as we were unable to penetrate a very strong Tyrone defence and we only had one point to show for our efforts at the end of the first half. The second half did not see much of an improvement as we could only tag on three points while Tyrone who were dominating in midfield added scores almost at will to pull away and win more than comfortably by 27 points on a final score line of Tyrone 6-13, Monaghan 0-4, although that 0-4 does not do the girls justice. Joint managers Pat O'Connell and Geraldine Clarke though were happy with the determination and the character the side showed especially as they were up against not only a team from a higher division but also the team that had won the junior championship the previous year.

Probably the most disappointing aspect of this year's activities was when we failed to win promotion to Division 4, through our participation in the Maire Ni Chinneide Cup which is a junior championship Blitz that is sponsored by Gala. This year the competition was held in Gavan Duffy Park, Monaghan at the end of August and the other counties were Louth, Cavan, Donegal and Wicklow. Our first game was against Wicklow and we got off to a great start and went on to lead by 1-2 to 0-2 at half-time, Marie Greenan getting the goal just before the break. However we failed to add any scores in the second-half and Wicklow ran out winners. In our second game against Louth we fared much better. Again we started well and had four points on the board before Brid Treanor found the Louth net to put us ahead by 1-4 to 0-0 at half-time. We felt that Louth would come back in the second-half but again we played well and 1-2 by Marie Greenan along with points by Helen Hughes and Lorraine McCarron left us convincing winners by 13 points with Louth failing to raise even a white flag. Final score Monaghan 2-7, Louth 0-0.

Our rich vein of form continued in the next game against Donegal whom we held scoreless and rattled up a tally of 3-3 ourselves, two of those goals coming early in the second-half to kill Donegal off completely and leave Monaghan winners by 3-3 to 0-0 to set up the deciding game against Cavan for a place in the final.

Cavan had come into the competition with quite a reputation and they vindicated that rating with a commanding performance that literally stopped us in our tracks. Angela Crowe proved our undoing with a personal tally of 1-3 to put paid to our chances and put them through to the final where they met Wicklow and went on to win the competition outright.

That was a major disappointment but there were other things that compensated with two of our girls bringing first ever International Shinty medals to the county, the U14s taking an Ulster title, Mary Meehan from the Truagh winning an All Ireland Purcell Cup medal with Athlone IT and a very successful summer camp underlines the very healthy nature of Camogie in the county and proves that there is a base on which we can build going forward.

Shinty
In the Shinty international which Ireland won 2 - 2, to Scotland's 0 - 0 two Monaghan players made history when Roisin McKenna, Castleblayney and Sharon McQuillan, Truagh won the first ever International Shinty medals for the County. Roisin and Sharon were chosen from the All Ireland Division 5 League and Championship to represent Ireland in the International Shinty which was held at the end of October in Inverness in Scotland.

Both girls were called into action in the second half. Roisin who is resident goalkeeper with the County was called in after half time and managed to keep a clean sheet, while Sharon proved a worthy corner back when she too was summoned at the start of the second half.
The side was managed by Cavan's Eddie Brady, Ger Moran of Roscommon and Louth's Mary O Connor.

Under-14's scoop Ulster title
On Easter Monday, 25 of our best up-and-coming players traveled to Derrylaughan, Co. Tyrone for the re-scheduled 2008 Ulster Blitz which had to be cancelled last year due to atrocious weather conditions. Lady Luck smiled benevolently on us as playing against a strong, blustery wind on the shores of Lough Neagh, the young Monaghan cailini really asserted themselves from the throw-in and it quickly became apparent that this title was wrapped up. Final score: Monaghan 1-3 Tyrone 0-0.

Underage Development: Gerard Gribben, Development Officer for the North Eastern Region furnished each club with a training schedule and a layout of blitzes and matches to run throughout the year for all underage players. This was a challenge to clubs to get an underage structure in place. The aim of the scheme was to portray the fun element of the game to the youngsters and encourage clubs to provide equipment for this purpose. With the help of many parents, clubs took it in turn to host underage blitz competitions on Saturday mornings which proved a great success. Donaghmoyne, one of our new clubs, were one of the hosts.

Camogie Summer Camp
A large number of enthusiastic children attended a Camogie Summer Camp which took place in Clontibret G.A.A. grounds. This camp was made possible due to funding received from the Monaghan Partnership. Ger Gribben facilitated the Summer Camp together with Geraldine Clarke and members of the County Camogie team. The children were treated to various drills and coaching skills. Coaching was delivered individually to each child by Mary O'Connor, National Development Officer and Cork All Star which was a great treat for all concerned.

Club Scene: Senior Championship
Sponsorship was secured for the 2009 Senior Championship when O'Rourke Oil, Carrickmacross kindly agreed to sponsor the competition which Clontibret won to complete a five in a row defeating Truagh in the final on a score of Clontibret 3-7, Truagh 1-5. Truagh got some compensation though when they won the League title for the first time in ten years, defeating Inniskeen in a closely contested final by 2-6 to 2-5. As in the championship and league however fortunes changed again with Inniskeen winning their third Blitz Title. Gaining revenge on Truagh whom they defeated by 2 -7 to 1-1. For Truagh's Mary Meehan it was a very rewarding season as she added an All Ireland Purcell Cup medal won with Athlone IT College to her Monaghan league medal. She was a member of the Athlone team that defeated St. Mary's 3-13 to 2-10 on Sunday 15th February in the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick.

Presidential Visit
Joan O'Flynn who hails from Co Kildare took up the position of President at Annual Congress and she paid Monaghan a visit in November when she attended a county board meeting which was a nice gesture as we were one of the few counties that she had not visited previously. Tweet

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