Inside Track: Blues coming to the boil in the championship pot

How many times has it been said? – Newtown Blues love it when there’s a championship at stake. Often in the past they’ve been mediocre in the league, but when asked the question in the knock-out, more often than not find the answer.

Their name is not on this year’s title, but for it to happen, just one more win is required. That will be against the winners of last night’s semi-final which brought Naomh Mairtín and Dundalk Gaels together. Drogheda has already been chosen as the venue, the game going ahead on Sunday week.

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Should it be the Mairtíns who are in opposition, it will be the third meeting of the teams inside the last decade. At a time when they were looking for a chair at the top table, the Monasterboice team lost out in the 2018 final and again the following year.

Blues met Gaels in the 2017 final, and won with a lot in hand. That year, in particular, was one in which the Drogheda side had a dismal run in the Cardinal O’Donnell Cup, but got their mojo back when the Joe Ward Cup was at stake.

Having knocked out the short-odds favourites, St Mary’s, in the quarter-finals, Blues came up against Dreadnots on Sunday, and though pushed all the way, had the know-how to piece together a clear cut win.

Dreadnots, however, will have reason to regret a number of chances and a penalty that yielded just a point. Regardless of who they meet in the final, the sky-blues will be a short price to win.