Louth GAA club | Sweeney: This is what it's all about

It’s been 36 years since Stabannon Parnells last took part a Louth Intermediate Football Championship final. For Shane Sweeney, then a nine-year-old, memories of 1989 remain vivid.

Now, as joint manager, he leads his side into Sunday’s final against Hunterstown, and the sense of occasion isn’t lost on him.

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He said: “It's a great occasion for the boys, I was nine actually back at the time (in 1989), going back many years, I actually remember the game well.

“Fiachra Bell was the captain on the day, but I look back in 2022, we had a discussion over there, actually in the stand, in early 2022, about taking this over and seeing where we go from there.

“But we knew after 2022, there was a great group of lads there, we knew that they could push on and get to the intermediate final and survive, and that's where we are now.”

Progress has been fast. Three years on from their junior triumph, Sweeney sees a clear trajectory in this young group.

“They're great lads and they know where they want to be, they want to be at the top table, that's where we want to be, and as a group, that's the target.

“So we have junior gone now, so hopefully, please God, we get out of the intermediate championship now on Sunday and look forward to the senior championship, that'll be the plan.”

Youth

The age profile of the team speaks volumes about the club’s renewal.

“Colm Giggins is probably one of the oldest on the squad. Colm is still relatively young, and then you're back to Bobby Butterly at 24, or 25, then you have lads there at 18, 19, 20, they're all in the same age group.

“The best thing about it is that they're all great friends with each other, and they all pal around each other all the time, so that's great because there's a big bond with them then.”

For Sweeney, that sense of community remains the heartbeat of the club.

“It's all about families, and it’s a small parish, so it's all going to be the families over the years, that's the way it's going to be, just for a small club.”

Tough group

Drawn with St. Brides and O’Raghallaigh’s, the group stage offered no easy route.

“When the group came out, it was difficult, but the Brides, we played them in the league, we knew we were going to have them in the league.

“We beat them once and they beat us once, so we knew we could get one up on them if we had the team prepared right. The O'Raghallaighs, it was always going to be a sticky one for us.

“We played them in the league, and we just about beat them in the league in Drogheda. But we were well prepared for them as well. We didn't want to slip up in any of the games, so the groups are always tough; it doesn't matter who's in them.”

Confidence

“Once we beat the Brides, we knew that that was the big one to get the win there with the first game out, that was the big one off it.

“We were full of confidence going in after that, but look at some of the frees that Harry (Butterly) is kicking all year, it's just phenomenal.

“He's a super player, and his free taking is just exceptional, but then we have big players there too who can take big scores when you need them.

“Ryan (Shevlin), Dylan (Shevlin), and Seán (Reynolds). There are lads there that can score, we can score.”

Seán Reynolds

The young star’s influence has been important.

“For a young fella, he has a wealth of experience under his belt already for such a young lad. Seán is a real leader out there, even in training; he just wants everything to be right.

“He sets an example there for all the lads, and everyone listens to him; it doesn't matter what he says, they listen, and they just do what they're told.

“If Seán says something, you just do it; he's in a league of his own, really, as well, skill-wise, he's just an exceptional player.”

Building

Sweeney remembers tougher times, too, when numbers dwindled and the club relied on sheer perseverance.

“It's down to the juvenile set-up there, it's a great set-up there with the juveniles. When we went down, I was involved back then, many years ago, too, and we had to try to keep the club going.

“We’d be here training, we'd seven or eight lads training and begging lads to play games, and you could see the youth coming along in the juvenile training.We knew that we had to keep this club running until those boys came along.

“There were a lot of people involved in that. Aonghus Giggins and Wayne Lynch were involved in that, too. We knew that we had to keep it going, and that's what we've done.”

Community

Sweeney is aware of the unique makeup of the parish.

“There's nothing around other than locals (who are) building, that's about the height of it, but look, it is what it is.

“It's a nice little community to be in. We rely on all the families around, and the kids coming through, and we have a few boys from different clubs.

“Richie Rogers there, came in this year from Ardee, and he's been a revelation to us, he's super. There are players out there that want to play football, and we'll take them if they want to come in.”

And at the heart of it all is the next generation.

“This is what it's all about on Sunday, it's all for the kids and the joy that they get out of this, and watching the team.

“There against the Clans and the win that they got, they’re days the kids never forget, and they'll grow up wanting to play that as well and wanting to be there.

“Wanting to be there and they're heroes, all of the players in there are heroes to the kids, so it'll be good for them.”

Composure

Sweeney insists the preparation has been meticulous but familiar.

“We have everything done. We'll just train as normal, the same way we've been training throughout the Championship campaign. Nothing's going to change, everything's ready, and we will just keep the players focused on the job ahead.

“There will be a bit of hype around, people will be talking, and all sorts going on, but we will be having a chat with them throughout the weekend, just keeping them ready.”

“That's the hope, that's the plan, you don't know what way nerves will go, with some of them. You look at the Shevlin's and Conor Clinton involved with the Louth U20s, they played massive games with them as well.

“So, you'd hope that those days with Louth U20s, and Seán (Reynolds) with the Louth team as well, that they'll be able to step up to the mark, that they'll be well used to the big occasions.”