“It'd mean everything” – St Mochtas captain Darren McMahon eyes historic Louth senior football title (cloned)

St Mochta's captain Darren McMahon hopes to put years of championship disappointment behind him when his side face Newtown Blues in Sunday's Louth GAA Anchor Tours Senior Football Championship final.

The Louth Village side are chasing their first Joe Ward Cup, having lost their only previous senior final to Naomh Máirtín by 11 points in 2021. For McMahon, victory would be the reward for years of commitment and sacrifice.

He told the Dundalk Democrat, “Yeah, it'd mean everything. This is my 16th year of playing, and I feel like we've had more losses on big days than wins. But maybe that's not true, looking back. Maybe every player feels like that.

“But yeah, it'd be the culmination of an awful lot of work, playing and sacrifices, coaching underage teams, stuff like that, to get a reward. But you don't get handed anything.”

McMahon believes the Mochtas are better prepared than they were four years ago, when Naomh Máirtín proved too strong in the county final.

“Yeah, poor performance overall, I think. Maybe a bit too early for us as a team and a club. The average age has increased; a lot of younger lads back then. We're in a good place, but again it's a tough ask on Sunday.”

He admits the players may have spent too long reflecting on their semi-final victory over Ardee before that defeat.

“We probably looked back at the Ardee win in the semi-finals for too long. That might be a mental thing for the players as opposed to a management thing or video or anything like that.

“The Mairtins were exceptional back then as well; they were more seasoned than us. It might not have been anything that we did or didn't do; it was just a learning experience.”

Preparation

Under manager Kevin McClorey and coach Brendan Coulter, the Mochtas have maintained a physical approach to training throughout the championship.

“Training is very physical, and I'd say that's a learning curve for us as well. We do have generally a smaller squad than some teams, and you're constantly thinking, if you pick up an injury or two here in the middle of the Championship, you're in trouble.

“It might be fair to say that at times we eased off slightly in terms of the physicality in the middle of the Championship, whereas this year I think it's just to the point where, lads, we have to go for it.

“If we drop bodies, we drop bodies, but let's just be on edge going into the Championship.

“With the new rules and the quality of the base level of Louth football now, unless you're on it on the day, you're beaten, and that's it.”

Response

The Mochtas recovered from an opening championship defeat to St Mary's, with McMahon admitting their struggles to progress from the group stages had become a concern.

“We didn't panic after the Ardee game. At the same time, we were really tuned in. One of the management team said, if you guys do consider yourselves a half-decent team, then why are we constantly struggling to get out of groups?

“It's two of the last four years we didn't make it out of the group. For a team that has higher aspirations and is fairly consistent throughout each season, that wasn't good enough.

“We definitely focused after that. We knew that two or three class players were coming back from injury anyway. It wasn't hit the panic button, but it was just a renewed kind of focus.”

Challenge

Despite Newtown Blues' league relegation from Division One, McMahon expects a difficult game against a side with a strong championship tradition.

“I think the quality of the league this year probably dropped a little bit. But Newtown Blues are a pure championship team. They always have been.

“I know they took a wee while to get going there with the lads coming back, but serious quality. Serious quality and experience and physicality and all the things you want to see. It's going to be a tough task.”

The midfielder insists the Mochtas will approach Sunday's final with the same mindset that has served them throughout the championship.

“I think it's definitely in the mindset of the players that this is just another game, as opposed to bigging it out of proportion that maybe people did the last year or sometimes teams might do in a final.

“It's just another game. You've seen that from our reactions after wins this championship campaign. It's been understated. It's been relaxed and focused and just on to the next job. It'll be the same process.

“It'll be the same reviews, video work, planning, us, their performance, match-ups and all those things that go into any sort of game.”

Leadership

McMahon considers captaining the Mochtas a privilege but believes the squad has plenty of players capable of leading.

“It's a great privilege because everybody knows the big names and the big leaders that we'd have in there. They'd be county-wide renowned if not further afield.

“But I would say that on the starting pitch, I think we'd have at least 8-10 lads who could easily step up and lead a team and be vocal and stuff like that.”

The absence of injured All-Star Craig Lennon has also forced others to take greater responsibility.

“He's there, and he's vocal on match day, and he definitely has helped the team. But yeah, the team has had injuries throughout the years. We've lost big players in that. Maybe it has forced other players to pick up the mantle.

“So maybe not having that has got one or two per cent out of 15, 20 other lads. And maybe that has filled a gap, but it's a massive gap to fill.”

Pride

McMahon believes winning the county title would mean as much to the wider Louth Village community as it would to the players.

“Everybody likes Decky (Byrne). He's a big character, and he's well-respected in the dressing room. There are lads like Liam Lawlor and Philly Englishby who will be there as well, who have soldiered since junior football.

“It'll be interesting to see lads get junior, intermediate and senior championship medals before retiring. For everybody, it'd be a whole community thing.

“Right down to the grassroots, it'd be the mothers and fathers and the lads coaching underage that would be as proud as the players themselves.”

But having experienced the disappointment of 2021, McMahon knows the occasion alone will count for little without a performance.

“We saw the last day; it would have been the same answer I was giving you five years ago, and we didn't turn up, didn't perform at all. So that's our main focus before anything else: following the process and putting in a big performance on the day.”