Donaghmoyne Edge Ballybay 0-13 to 1-9 to Win the Monaghan Intermediate Football Title
Donaghmoyne held off a late Ballybay push in Clontibret on Sunday to win the 2026 Monaghan Intermediate Football Championship by a point. Both clubs were already promoted to senior for 2027.
By the Monaghan Brief staff·Edited by Seamus McKenna·Published · 2 min read
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Drumlins near the Cavan-Monaghan border. Archive location photograph; not a photo of the events in this story. Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and colour-graded; cropped in layout.
Donaghmoyne are the 2026 Monaghan intermediate football champions after beating Ballybay Pearse Brothers 0-13 to 1-9 in the final at Clontibret on Sunday, 25 October, Northern Sound reported.
David Garland and Shane McGuinness swapped early points. Christopher Gaughan then kicked a two-pointer and Liam McDonald added a point, putting Donaghmoyne four points to one ahead. Simon DuPlessis scored a Ballybay goal on 16 minutes to bring them level. Stephen Finnegan then kicked a point and a two-pointer on 27 minutes, and Donaghmoyne led 0-9 to 1-2 at half-time.
Colm Lennon scored first for Ballybay after the restart, on 36 minutes. Niall Keenan and Aaron Courtney replied to make it 0-11 to 1-3. Ballybay came back late through Shane and Christopher McGuinness but did not find an equaliser.
Both up to senior
Both clubs had already secured senior status for 2027 by winning their semi-finals. Northern Sound noted it was Donaghmoyne's fifth final appearance in ten years. Ballybay, relegated last year, go straight back up.
Next: Ulster
The Ulster GAA club fixtures list Donaghmoyne (Muineachán) v Desertmartin (Derry) in the Ulster Intermediate Club Championship quarter-final at Inniskeen on Saturday, 7 November, at 3.30pm.
Sources
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Aughnamullen and Monaghan forward Bobby McCaul, who faced both finalists this year, expects a tight intermediate championship final in Clontibret on Sunday but leans towards Ballybay. He also says his second ACL recovery is going well.
Ballybay beat Clones 3-19 to 0-12 and Donaghmoyne edged Emyvale 1-17 to 0-16 in the IFC semi-finals, while Aghabog beat Currin to reach the junior final. Both finals are fixed for the weekend of 24-25 October.
Drumhowan came back from 2-04 to 0-06 down at half-time to beat Aghabog after extra time in Scotstown on Saturday. It is the club's third Junior double, after 1960 and 2006.
