It's still only early February, but already the fixtures calendar is taking shape with the draws for the opening rounds of matches in the Junior, Intermediate and senior football Championships being held at the County Committee meeting in Cloghan on Monday night last.

SFC.

In the senior football championship, Scotstown will open the defence of their title against Carrickmacross who were promoted from intermediate last year, while defeated county finalists Magheracloone are in action against Ballybay.

The full draw is as follows:

Preliminary Round:

Monaghan Harps v Truagh,

Castleblayney V Inniskeen

Round 1A:

Clontibret v Latton,

Carrickmacross v Scotstown,

Ballybay v Monaghan Harps

The winners of the 2 preliminary round matches make up the 4^th pairing.

IFC.

Meanwhile in the intermediate football championship Junior double winners Currin from last year, are out in the preliminary round against Tyholland while Sean McDermotts who were also promoted last year, take on Aughnamullen. The full draw was as follows: #

Preliminary Round:

Currin v Tyholland,

Blackhill v Toome.

Round 1A :

Corduff.v Killanny,

Donaghmoyne  v. Doohamlet,

Aughnamullen v Sean McDermotts,

The winners of the 2 preliminary round games make up the 4^th pairing.

JFC.

Meanwhile in the Junior football championship 12 teams will take part in 2018 with the addition of 2^nd teams from Truagh and Corduff. The full draw was as follows:

4 Preliminary Round games:

1. Scotstown V Truagh.

2. Oram V Cremartin

3. Drumhowan V. Emyvale.

4. Aghabog V Clones.

Round 1A:

Killeevan V Corduff.

Eire Og v Rockcorry

The winners of preliminary round 1 v the winners of game 2.

The winners of preliminary round game 3 v the winners of game 4.

LEAGUE CHANGES ADOPTED.

A review group, set up by County Board chairman Michael Owen McMahon, working in conjunction with CCC has drafted proposals that, it believes, addresses the issues regarding the club fixtures schedule for all our club players. The proposals allow for 18 league games through an alternative model to 'star' games, for clubs, in the senior and intermediate leagues, and they provides at least 16 league games for junior clubs. They were being proposed on a one-year trial basis for 2018 and were adopted by a sizeable majority by the clubs last week.

Proposal for Senior and Intermediate Football Leagues

Each of the ten clubs in senior and intermediate will play in a double league with 18 games in both competitions as follows:

(i)         Clubs will play a minimum of nine games with members of the county senior panel (A).

(ii)        Clubs will play a maximum of nine games from which 24 members (see no. viii) of the    county panel will be excluded (B).

(iii)       More points will be awarded for a win or a draw for games in A than in B. 

In A, each club will play every other team once and five points will be allocated for a win and two points for a draw.

In B, each club will play every other team once and two points will be allocated for a win and one point for a draw. This means that 71.5 % of win points are available for the nine A games and 28.5% for the nine B games.

(iv)       The team that has home advantage in A will be away to their opponents in B and vice versa.

(v)        A minimum of four games and a maximum of five rounds in A must be completed by      Sunday 29th April.

(vi)       The first four or five games in B will be the pairings that have not been played in the first           four or five games in A.   

(vii)      If Monaghan is eliminated from the All-Ireland championship before the nine B games    have been played, county players can play in the remaining B games but points will be          awarded based on B i.e. two points for a win and one point for a draw. This ensures that        all clubs will play every other club for a total of 7 points over their two matches. 

(viii)     Before the B games commence, the senior Team Manager will provide the County Secretary with a list of the 24 players in the county senior panel who are excluded from club league games. The list will include no more than five players from any one club. The list may be changed on the day following each of Monaghan's championship games and clubs will be notified immediately.  

(ix)        Semi-finals and final in both leagues will be played as determined by Monaghan County Committee.

Proposal for Junior Football League

The situation in the Junior Football League is different in several respects. While clubs want to win promotion through the league, they do not have to worry about relegation. In addition, it is likely that there will be less junior than senior or intermediate players in the final senior county panel.

Playing a double round in the junior football league, as in senior and intermediate, would mean 22 games which, the review group believes, is more than junior clubs want. A 16-game league (as opposed to 18 in the double league of senior and intermediate grades), along with the Junior Championship, provides a more acceptable number of games. It is for these reasons that the review group is making the following proposal:   

• There will be 12 teams in the Junior Football League, which will be played in two phases
• In the first phase, each team will play every other team once (11 games).
• When these games have been completed, the top six will play each other on a single league basis and compete for the Dr. Ward Cup (5 games).
• When the first phase has been completed, the teams ranked 7-12 will play each other in a single league and compete for the Junior Shield (5 games).
• 'Star' games will be as decided by Monaghan County Committee.
• Semi-finals and final in both the Dr. Ward Cup and Junior Shield will be played as determined by Monaghan County Committee.

 

ULSTER CLUB LEAGUES.

Meanwhile Killanny have begun preparations for the 2018 season already by taking part in the Ulster club intermediate football league where they started with an opening round victory against Shane O'Neills of Armagh and this Saturday they have the 2^nd outing, when they take on Laragh United of Cavan in Killanny on Sunday at 2 PM.

SENIOR SCOR.

 Clubs are reminded that the Senior Scor County final will take place in the Tullycorbett Community Centre on Sunday February 25^th starting at 3 PM with Competitions in Rince Foirne, Rince Seit, Solo Singing, Ballad Singing, Recitation, Group Music and Drama. Clubs are asked to email their entries for Scór Sinsear, the entry to state; the name of the competitor, the title of the song/recitation etc and the name of GAA/LGFA club and club numbers to irishculturalofficer.monagh[email protected]. The Scor Committee also wants to remind clubs if their Cultural Officer details have changed since their AGM's to please notify the committee at  irishculturalofficer.monaghan@gaa.ie.

Tweet

Most Read Stories