Festive cheer for Louth GAA after dreadful year
AS the curtain begins to fall on 2018 we look back at the GAA sporting year in Louth.
On the local GAA club scene, Newtown Blues cemented their place at the top table of Gaelic football in Louth as they captured the Joe Ward Cup for the second year in a row.
The history books will record ‘The Blues’ as 2018 senior champions, the 22nd time their name has been etched on the trophy. However, on a crisp autumn day in the Gaelic Grounds maiden finalists Naomh Mairtin will know they should have done better. They controlled the contest for long periods and held a comfortable six-point lead entering the final quarter.
But the winners responded in true champions fashion as they took advantage of the opposition’s inexperience and hesitancy and somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
It will be a long winter in Monasterboice as players and supporters ponder on what might have been.
Joe Ward, meanwhile, will enjoy another cosy off-season around the hostelries in Newfoundwell.
In the Intermediate grade St Mochta’s pulled off a surprise by beating more fancied opponents all the way through the competition, including the final against St Fechin’s. They were worthy winners of the Seamus Food trophy and are looking forward to their first season in senior for more than 30 years.
Star forward Ciaran Byrne has returned from Australia and he’ll be expected to make a major contribution to club and county in 2019.
Dundalk Young Irelands were a lot of people’s pick for the Junior title and they duly delivered on their favourites tag as they overcame Glyde Rangers in the decider.
It was far from plain sailing for Louth’s oldest club as they left it late in several games, including the final, in order to claim victory.
That battling spirit, however, was to be the hallmark of their season as they knuckled down to grind out some more victories in the provincial club championship, and in particular a smash and grab victory over St Brigids from Offaly in the decider. They now look forward to an All-Ireland semi-final against Beaufort from Kerry at the end of next month.
Hurling/Ladies
Elsewhere, Knockbridge captured their first Senior Hurling title since 2014 with victory over St Fechin’s and Cooley Kickhams defeated Geraldines in the Ladies final.
Inter-county
It was a miserable year for our county teams on the national front. At senior level, former Down All-Ireland-winning manager Pete McGrath presided over one of the worst 12 months in living memory, while we failed to make an impact at Minor, U-20 or Junior grade.
We didn’t win a single game in Division 2 of the National League and were relegated long before the competition was completed.
The Leinster Championship and subsequent Qualifiers provided little comfort as we suffered heavy defeats to Carlow and Leitrim, our only win of the campaign coming in Ruislip against London.
Following Pete McGrath’s expected departure, former Minor boss Wayne Kierans was handed the difficult task of stopping the rot and stabilising our position in the upcoming Division 3. The championship draw has pitted us away to Wexford in the opening round, with the winners facing Dublin. 2019 could be another very testing season.
The Ladies team provided the only ray of hope for the county in 2018, progressing to the All-Ireland Junior Final, but unfortunately they suffered defeat to Limerick in the decider. Some consolation was derived from team captain Kate Flood winning the TG4 Junior Players’ Player of the Year.
Countygrounds
The county grounds debacle in Drogheda, which has drifted from pillar to post for generations, was finally put out of it misery as County chairman Des Halpenny finally admitted in March that the proposed redevelopment project was a lost cause.
Better news filtered through in September, with County treasurer Aidan Berrill leading an expert group who unveiled plans for an ambitious €8 million, 12,000-capacity stadium in Dundalk.
The announcement was a real shot in the arm for Louth Gaels, but the purchase of County Council owned lands has since faced some potential opposition from local councillors. The opposition was believed to stem from concerns about the price of the land and the fact that the county ground would be moving from Drogheda to Dundalk.
Thankfully, councillors overwhelmingly backed the proposal on Monday, bringing some badly-needed festive cheer to Louth GAA supporters.
And that brings the curtain down for Sidelines in 2018. Happy Christmas and best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous new year.