Joe Carroll: Senior final could be one of the best

A fine Louth championship season reaches its climax on Sunday with the senior final going ahead at Clan na Gael Park.

St Mary’s play Newtown Blues, while in the minor decider which opens the programme, Mary’s will also be represented, their under-17s taking on Dundalk Gaels, who are appearing at this stage for the first time in 25 years.

Attendances have been good, and that might just have something to do with club football being given a free run; there’s been no interference from inter-county games going ahead simultaneously at Croke Park and other major venues.

Darver, for instance, had its biggest ever turn-out for the senior semi-final between Mary’s and holders, Naomh Mairtin, and there were healthy attendances at many other venues.

The fare’s been good, especially in games in the knock-out section, and if asked to choose the best so far, Inside Track would plump for the clash of Geraldines and St Fechin’s in the senior quarter-final at Stabannon.

This had good football, excitement, plenty of scores and, you could say, two grandstand finishes. Gers were dead and almost buried as the 60 minutes drew to a close, but dug themselves out of a hole with a late goal to bring the sides level. And they did the same at the end of extra-time, only this time their goal was a winner.

Many of those at the Cooley Kickhams/Hunterstown Rovers intermediate semi-final were out the gate before Ryan Burns twice picked Kickhams’ pocket, his goals drawing the match.

The sides were still locked together at the end of the additional 20 minutes, leaving referee, Aidan Shevlin, to fix the ball on the penalty-spot a number of times. Part three of an absorbing tie saw Cooley’s Neil Gallagher at his best, Louth’s 2010 Leinster Championship final goalie saving three times to deny gallant Hunterstown.

Yes, it was tense at Clan na Gael Park, just as it was at Croke Park for Galway’s All-Ireland quarter-final with Armagh during the summer, penalties also deciding this issue. Consensus among those with whom this page has had a chat would suggest this is not a good way to reach a verdict. Let’s have a return of the replay, they say.

There were other noteworthy performances, Glyde Rangers overcoming adversity to get the better of Wolfe Tones, in the junior semi-final one of them. The Tallanstown outfit were under a cloud following the tragic loss of former player, Aiden Sheridan, but somehow were able to first of all beat Lannleire in the quarter-finals, and six days later find a way past Tones.

Tones are mentioned in another piece on these pages. There was a time when the Drogheda team were the best in the county. That was soon after the club had come into existence, in the mid-1920s, winning the senior title five times in seven years. This year’s semi-final appearance was their first in a long time, a hint, perhaps, that they could be on the rise again.

There have some surprises, and if Naomh Mairtin’s failure to reach the senior final counts as one of them, it’s not in the major category. Three teams stood out before the competition got underway – hat-trick-seeking Mairtins, St Mary’s and Newtown Blues.

Mary’s have done all that’s been asked of them, routing each of their group opponents before putting paid to St Bride’s in the quarter-finals.

Their semi-final win over the title-holders was hard-earned, the winning score not coming until deep into injury-time. But to put themselves on Martin’s shoulder with only minutes remaining, they had a deficit to make up which at one stage stood at eight points.

Blues hadn’t it easy, either. They were beaten by gritty St Patrick’s in the league section, having at one stage looked in danger of going out of the competition.

But after that the champions of three years ago eased past St Joseph’s and were good in disposing of Geraldines last time out, overcoming a shaky start to lead at half-time and then hold Gers scoreless in the second half.

So, while it doesn’t include the team that’s been in the final for the past four years, winning the title twice, and, it’s said, looking as much to Leinster this year as they were to collecting the Joe Ward Cup once again, Sunday’s line-up is not without class.

Blues represent a club that’s won the title more often than any other, while Mary’s folk will tell you that they should have more than ten to their credit.

Ardee have failed to cross the final hurdle four times since last winning the Joe Ward, beating St Patrick’s in 1995.  Take a longer look at their record and you’ll find that the ’95 win was their first in two decades, and in the intervening period there were several other defeats at the concluding stage.

Yes, Mary’s were once the ‘cream of the county’, as a Deesider was heard to describe them way back, regularly winning titles, but that was before Blues re-emerged in the 1960s.

While Cooley Kickhams, Stabannon Parnells, Clan na Gael, Mattock Rangers and St Patrick’s all have had innings since then, there’s no team that has been as consistent as the Drogheda representatives in the past 60 years or so.

They play a distinctive kind of football which has stood the test of time, even in this day of 14 behind the ball, passing sideways and backwards and conceding kick-outs. It was evidenced in the Geraldines match, which they’d have won even more convincingly had they made better use of a myriad of chances.

Andy McDonnell had the baton that day, orchestrating much of what was good. The now-veteran, who, like the aforementioned Neil Gallagher, was cruelly denied a Leinster medal at Croke Park twelve years ago, has a fine working relationship with another of the 2010 squad, Colm Judge. This durable duo will provide lots of ammunition to keep the Mary’s defence under pressure.

The injury sustained by Darren Clarke early on was no help to Mary’s when they last appeared in the final, two years ago. While the longest-serving Ardee player of recent years was able to continue, his contribution wasn’t as telling as expected, leaving Naomh Mairtin to take the title for the first time.

Clarke is still contributing, and should Mary’s collect, there’ll be no-one more deserving of a senior championship medal. Same goes for another who has many years’ service to his credit, Ronan Carroll.

The injury he picked up in the semi-final keeps the unlucky Evin Keenan out of the final. Worse than that, the midfielder, whose partnership with RJ Callaghan has been vital in Mary’s making the final, is likely to be out of the game for up to nine months.

The pressure will be on others to move up a gear in what is expected to be a rip-roarer. You can take it, the likes of the Jackson brothers, Daire McConnon, Donal McKenny, and Ciaran Keenan – all who found favour with county manager, Mickey Harte, in the National League – shouldn’t be found wanting. And there are others who can step up to the mark.

Mary’s were Inside Track’s fancy to win it out before the competition got underway. There’s no reason to change horses at this stage. Club chairman, Mickey Rooney, who, along with three of his brothers was on the last championship-winning Mary’s side 27 years ago, would like nothing better than to preside over a championship win.

(That’s not exactly right: when asked a few months back which would he prefer, his club to take the title, or a greyhound owned by a syndicate of which he was a member, Runninta Shay – named in memory of his late brother – to win a major stake at Dundalk Stadium, Mickey went for the latter. But that will surely be all forgotten if the Joe Ward Cup arrives back in Ardee on Sunday evening.)