Inside Track: Mochta’s can overcome absence of Lennon and win senior title for the first time

The All-Star shipped an injury in the All-Ireland semi-final, and the seriousness of it ruled out the possibility of him playing any further 2026 football.

The Villagers would have cursed their luck, and who could blame them? Aside from bringing honour to his area, winning a Leinster senior medal and after that the award all inter-county players set their sights on, Lennon has been one of Moch’s mainstays since graduating from underage ranks.

But rather than brood over the loss of one of their talismen, Moch’s got on with it, easily making it to safety in the senior league, and then, after a faltering start, creating a huge impression in the championship.

Now they are just one step away from bringing the game’s – and Louth sport’s – most cherished trophy to where the one after whom they are named once ministered, and an image of the house in which he lived adorns their jerseys.

On Sunday, Mochta’s take on championship specialists, Newtown Blues, in Drogheda’s Gaelic Grounds, more than hopeful of having their name inscribed on the Joe Ward Cup for the first time.

The final is not foreign to them. They were there for the 2021 renewal, but with Naomh Mairtín at the height of their powers at the time, defending the title they had won the previous year with a win over St Mary’s at an a near empty Darver, the occasion proved too much for them.

After that, in 2024, Mochta’s played the same opposition in a St Brigid’s Park semi-final and this time fared much better, getting to within a point at the finish. Now older, wiser and chastened by those defeats, they are ready to empty the locker.

It will have to be like that. Blues have always been a hard team to beat in the championship. Just ask Ardee folk.

Aiming for a third successive title and beyond that, a place in the Leinster final for the second successive year, hoping that this time they’d make it a county and provincial double, Mary’s faltered badly in a quarter-final in Drogheda twelve months ago.

And then there was the weekend before last. Meeting Blues once again, this time in a semi-final, Fergal Reel’s team stared victory in the face, but turned away.

They conceded a goal and a two-pointer after the 60th minutes had been passed, ending with a devastating defeat by the narrowest of margins.

Yes, Blues have that special quality when it comes to the knock-out. If they hadn’t, their name wouldn’t be registered on the roll of honour 23 times. Many of those wins came from the great team of the 1960s and ‘70s, but their successors haven’t done too badly, either.

Since the turn into this century, Blues have been successful on seven occasions, including a three-in-a-row, 2017 to ’19.

There are many survivors of the hat-trick side still playing, county players, Ciarán Downey and Conor Brannigan among them, as well as that great servant, Andy McDonnell.

Andy was more than handy against St Mary’s, and can be expected to be again on Sunday.

Everything seemed to go through Downey in the semi-final, but particularly in the game’s final passages. He’ll be a handful for the Mochta’s N0 6.

Then there’s one of the young blades, Conor MacCriosta, and the Nally brothers, Daire and Ross. A star on Louth’s Leinster-winning under-20 side last year, Mac Criosta did more than anyone else to keep the Séamus Flood at home in the loss to Kildare in the 2027 final a number of months back.

This is a rejuvenated Blues team. Just before the championship got underway they took their leave of the senior league, which had them playing most of their games without their county players.

Next season will have the Drogheda side an absentee from the O’Donnell Cup for the first time in almost seven decades.

Former Cooley and O’Rahilly’s player and recent-year county minor team boss, Jonny Clerkin, has overseen a huge turnaround. A win on Sunday will be a big addition to his CV.

Members of the Byrne family seem to do things in pairs. Eimear and Aoife were on the Mochta’s team that played St Patrick’s in this year’s ladies’ final, with the first-named winning the player-of-the-match award.

This Sunday the girls’ bothers, Declan and Ciarán go to war. There’s no doubt both carry a huge responsibility up front. They should be well up for it..

Getting a longer than usual injury-free run in recent times, Ciarán – known to even his family as ‘Casey’ – has troubled all the full-backs he’s come face to face with in the campaign, at his best when fed what’s known as the ‘long ball’.

Although now in the autumn of his career, the older of brothers is playing better than ever. On the day his sister won the gong in Drogheda, ‘Deccy’ got a similar award for his performance in Moch’s semi-final rout of St Joseph’s.

That day he played a part, along with captain, Darren McMahon and Seán Flynn, in his side’s command of the midfield area, and embellished his display with four points. A lot could rest on how many he scores – and in his joust with Daire Nally

Ben Goss-Kieran wears the same N0 3 jersey that his father, Colin Goss, did in his days as a seven-times championship winner with St Patrick’s.

But whereas ‘Baby’ was happy to stay at home most of the times, usually making life difficult for opposing full-forwards, the young man is often seen at the other end of the field. And it’s not always playmaking; he can score, claiming, for instance, 1-1 against Joe’s.

It can’t be easy for Craig Lennon looking on. He’d be right in the thick of things if free to play. But there’ll be no-one shouting louder for the Villagers, paying particular attention to how his brother, Shane, fares out.

The younger of the boys is a player with huge potential. We’ll be seeing plenty of him in the red jersey from next February onwards, when, hopefully, the other family member will be alongside him.

Sunday could be the perfect climax to what’s been one of the best senior championships in years. The rules have played a part – and you could ask if the county teams’ performances had also something to do with. Consensus is Mochta’s quarter-final with Dundalk Gaels stood out from all other matches.

Mochta’s, of course, won that encounter and can go in again in this much more important match. They’ll have a team with a huge championship-winning mentality to overcome, but might just be able to nick it.

It’s the perfect match-up, a team with a cabinet full of trophies against one with a space that’s never before been occupied.

Moch’s to succeed Jock’s as champions.