Louth GAA club | Geoghegan: We kept digging in

Naomh Moninne captain Darren Geoghegan was beaming with pride on Sunday afternoon as he lifted the Louth Senior Hurling Championship trophy, the club’s first since 2019, after a thrilling victory over St. Fechins.

Speaking after the game, he said, “I'm honoured to be captain and represent the lads, bring Paddy Kelly back to Toberona. It's fantastic.

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“All the effort they put in and the volunteers. That's our home pitch now. We'd have to rent pitches and borrow everything from everyone for the pitch. So we have our own pitch, it’s fantastic.

“Fechins were going for five in a row, we knocked them off their throne. It's fantastic. They've been great ambassadors for Louth hurling, but we’re delighted to be bringing Paddy Kelly back.”

Geoghegan admitted the opening half followed a familiar pattern to their round-robin clash, with Fechins striking first and grabbing early goals.

“The game today, the first half, has a lot of similarities with the round robin match. They made a better start, then they got a couple of goals, but the heads never dropped.

“Heads never dropped. We went up four or five points, and they came back up two goals. We knew at half time we were still in the game. We weren't out of it.

“We kept digging in, kept taking our scores. They got their purple patch as well. But then we got a goal near the end.

“Then the last play there was immense, like everything was on the line, breaking balls. That game had everything from the first minute to the last minute.”

Team spirit

Missed chances and disallowed goals could have derailed Moninne’s push, but Geoghegan praised his side’s resilience in the face of setbacks.

“Oh, we did. I thought after we missed that, and then the goal went in, I thought that was it, gone. It was seven points with about eight minutes left.

“And then we got our own goal disallowed as well. So then, to come back from that, it was fantastic. The lads never dropped.

“Played many games all year in Armagh. And once the goal went in, the heads would drop and the game was over, but we dug in deep there and we're thrilled.”

Man of the Match

Once again, Conor Murphy delivered when it mattered most, netting a decisive second goal and late point to win the game.

“Once you get that far, you don't get many finals. And to win it in full time, that's what we wanted to do. Conor's been unbelievable all year.

“He's been our best player, inside man. He's our target man. We knew we had to get the ball to Conor, and he would do damage. And when he put the ball in, he did.

“Look at him today, man of the match. I don't know what he got. 2-5 or 2-6 Unbelievable. Brilliant. But around him as well, the Lads worked hard, getting the ball in.

“In the back end, lads blocked down balls that were seventy-thirty to the Fechins ball, and the lads kept going. Every one of the 20 lads that came in was fantastic.”

Pressure

The final moments were tense, as additional time threatened to undo all of Moninne’s hard work.

“They did, we were up in the corner there, and we got turned over, and I thought, Jesus, not again. Like, we put so much in coming back, and if we lost there by a point or two, it would be heartbreaking, but we got back there was immense.

“I can't describe it. The amount of work those lads have put in. From the gym session, SKF, everything has been brilliant.”