Ardee's Jackson insists the “journey isn’t over yet”

After leading Ardee St. Mary’s to their third consecutive Louth Senior Football Championship title, joint-captain Liam Jackson was buzzing with pride and joy.

Following a hard-fought battle against Naomh Máirtín at a wet and windy McGeough Park on Sunday, Jackson shared his thoughts with the Dundalk Democrat on the significance of this historic victory.

“It’s unbelievable,” he began. “You can see everybody out here now and what it means to everybody—it’s an unbelievable feeling.

“The support we’ve had, especially in these conditions, has been unreal. To win three in a row for the first time in Ardee’s history, I think that says it all.”

The crowd of supporters were undeterred by the rough weather and stayed on the pitch to celebrate with the players well after the final whistle.

“You can’t emphasise how much of an impact it has on the community and everybody,” Jackson said.

“There are a few people that couldn’t be here today—they might be in hospital or a care home, watching on. I’d like to shout out to them because it’s as much for them as it is for us.”

“It gives them such a lift, such a spirit for the next couple of months. We got over the line here, and we’ll enjoy the next couple of days. But this journey isn’t over yet.”

The weather at McGeough Park on Sunday was far from ideal, with gusting winds and rain making conditions challenging for both teams.

He said: “Like I said against the (Newtown) Blues, the wind doesn’t win games. It’s nearly harder playing with the wind. You’re kicking the ball, and it’s going all over the place.

“You probably saw we were fortunate in the first half with that goal—10 times out of 10 Craig Lynch would catch that, and it just flew in over him. We definitely had a bit of luck, but we’ll take it.”

It was a moment of honesty from the captain to acknowledge the slice of fortune that went his side's way.

Reflecting on the way his team saw out the game, Jackson noted that Ardee had learned from past experiences.

“If you’re looking back at the last couple of years, that’s probably the biggest learning we’ve taken from a lot of games,” he said.

“There were an awful lot of times we got ahead in games, but we would have let teams back into it too easily. I think that’s something we’ve added to our game.”

He went on to explain the importance of keeping control when in the lead. “When we do get three or four points ahead, we seem to hold onto the ball.

“I know it’s probably scrappy at times, myself included, I gave the ball away a couple of times. But holding on to that lead, we’ve gotten better at that.”

The historic nature of the win wasn’t lost on Jackson. While he admitted the game might not have been a classic, he was thrilled by the outcome.

“It was probably a dire game, but it’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said with a grin. “You can see all the people here enjoying it. We go on to Leinster now, but we’ll enjoy the next few days first.”

He concluded by hinting at the challenges ahead. “We’ll make up for a lot of lost time, and we’ll regroup probably Wednesday or Thursday, and we’ll set out the plan for the future.”