Ardee St. Mary's 0-15 Naomh Mairtin 1-11
Ardee St. Mary’s made it back-to-back Louth senior titles with a one-point win over Naomh Mairtin at St. Brigid’s Park Dowdallshill.
Having trailed by as much as seven in the opening quarter, the holders held their nerve to retain the Joe Ward cup by the slenderest of margins.The showpiece ended in a wonderful layer of tension only county finals possess. With the game going scoreless in the final eight minutes of nerves.
Former champions Naomh Mairtin failed to equalise on two occasions down the stretch and proved to be the difference.
Immense on the day, Sam Mulroy pulled a free and Ardee goalkeeper James McGillick took a ball off the line with the game final play.
If the second half was hanging by a thread the opening stanza was entirely different. Despite playing in their fifth final in six seasons, the Monasterboice outfit went into the final as underdogs.
However they got the perfect start when Mulroy created a goal for Evan Whelan after 11 minutes of action. Mulroy and his relation Stephen Campbell combined to make it a stunning 1-05 to 0-01.
An upset looked to be the order of the day but Ardee showed the firepower they have to rattle off eight scores in succession to not only level but take the lead, 0-09 to 1-05 before half time.
Jonathan Commins struck four points in a row to grasp the tie back in their favour before a quick fire brace from fellow county panelist Daire McConnon landed the psychological blows to their opponents.
Second half, Mulroy was imperious until the last. A tally of five second-half points very nearly brought Declan McCoy’s side over the line.
Considering the missing quartet of county pair John Clutterbuck and Eoghan Callaghan, Mark Whelan and Conor Morgan along with a late injury to young midfielder Dara McDonnell, the 2020 and 2021 winners showed their class.
However, Ardee would avenge one of those final losses thanks to the McConnon and Commins tandem.
With a two point lead, they would hold tight in the final ten minutes of normal time and three additional to cement their place in the history books.
Ardee St Mary's: James McGillick; Paraic McKenny, Donal McKenny, Tiernan Corrigan (0-01); Kian Moran, Eimhin Keenan, Carl Gillespie (0-01); Sean Callaghan (0-01), Robbie Leavy; Ciaran Keenan (0-01), Liam Jackson, Jonathan Commins (0-06, 0-03f); Ryan Rooney, Daire McConnon (0-05), Tom Jackson. Subs: Conor Gillespie for R Leavy (37), Ronan Carroll for S Callaghan (54), Tadhg McDonnell for Carl Gillespie (63).
Naomh Mairtin: Craig Lynch; Tadhg O’Brien, Thomas Sullivan, Shane Morgan; Seam Healy, Evan Whelan (1-00), Conor Healy; Tom Gray (0-01), Sam Mulroy (0-08, 0-03f, 0-01m, 0-01 '45), Cian Sands, Wayne Campbell, Jack Murphy; Conor Whelan (0-01), Val Leddy, Stephen Campbell (0-01). Subs: Darragh Dorian for C Sands (37), Ben Callanan for S Campbell (58), Mick Fanning for S Morgan (58), Jack Lynch for C Whelan (60), Conor Smith for T O’Brien (60).
Referee: Colm McCullough (Naomh FIonnbarra)
