Letterkenny welcomed Monaghan to Dave Gallaher Memorial Park on Saturday for the resumption of the Q3 league program and the home side were out of the traps early with a penalty by out half Ryan Mortimer following some early pressure. No.8 and captain, Terence Gallagher, ran strongly all day and crossed for the first try of the day off the base of an impressive Letterkenny scrum. 14 man Monaghan weren't going to lie down and hit back through a try from their winger after a good break by their elusive out half. Letterkenny took back control of the game through tries from open side Gary Canning and hooker Shaun McGill to leave the half time score 22-7.

Early in the second half the home side put the result of the game beyond doubt and secured a bonus point. With the scrum dominant and opposition lineout ball disrupted well by Ben Mortimer, Letterkenny were making the most of their territorial and possession advantage and props Rae Clarke and Chris Digimas scored in quick succession. Clarke after the line was pounded by the forwards and play was then switched to the left and Digimas following a scrum where the pick and go option found the defence wanting.

Letterkenny lost the influential Conor Dunleavy to injury but managed to sustain the pressure on the visitors. Gallagher again showed his power from the base of the scrum crossing after a 40m run swatting off would-be tacklers on route, and out-half Mortimer displayed excellent evasion skills after he received scrappy line out ball he stepped wonderfully through the defence and used his pace to touch down in the corner.

Letterkenny then conceded a relatively soft try from a penalty 5m out from their line but it was no less than the Monaghan side deserved who never gave up all afternoon. The home side finished strongly with Gallagher completing his hat trick chasing down a charged down clearance and the try of the day from John Anthony McFadden. McFadden was released down the right flank by some great handling inside the Letterkenny half by Colm McNicholl, Sean Deery and Adam Moore. McFadden who had some great runs under his belt earlier in the game still had a lot to do but blitzed past the defence to get round under the posts to make the extras a formality. Mortimer kicked 5 of the 9 conversions during the afternoon to take his individual tally to 18 points for the game.

Next Saturday the team travel to Portadown to take on 2nd place PSNI which will undoubtably be a tougher challenge but with three wins from the last three outings the team will approach the game with confidence.

Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-8.30pm. All are welcome.