Third light
December 30, 2009The 2009 Louth intermediate football championship final was one of the most thrilling, dramatic and meaningful matches of the year. At Cluskey Park on the second Sunday of October, Naomh Malachi booked their return to the top flight with a one-point win over Na Piarsaigh. It was tough luck on the town club (their second successive year to lose a final by the minimum margin) but nobody could deny the Mals their day of glory. The border club had defied their doubters to take the Flood Cup again with a decisive late surge.
In the group stage of the competition, Naomh Malachi - who had been relegated at the end of the previous year - failed to set the world on fire. Their form was distinctly average and there was arguably little to suggest they could go all the way. However, any championship is a marathon, not a sprint, and the Mals players have plenty of big-match experience and guile, which they put to tremendous use in the closing stages of the '09 IFC.
Naomh Malachi opened their Group A programme with a 0-13 to 0-12 defeat at the hands of Clan na Gael at Castlebellingham on May 2. The pressure was on straight away! When they incurred another one-point reversal in their second outing - 0-12 to 1-8 against O'Raghallaighs - three weeks later, the border outfit were hanging on by a thread. There was no more room for error and one more slip-up would have condemned the team to a prolonged stay on the middle rung.
Amazingly, Padraig O'Neill's side found their composure at the critical time and reeled off six straight wins to book their return tickets to senior football. The last three group matches were against St Josephs, Dundalk Young Irelands and Oliver Plunketts. The Joes were beaten by 1-14 to 1-5 at The Grove in late July and then came two battling, two-point victories: 1-11 to 1-9 against Dundalk Young Irelands at Clan Na Gael Park on August 15 and 0-11 to 0-9 against the Plunketts in Knockbridge a fortnight later.
Six points from five outings secured the Mals a second-place finish on the group table behind the Clans, who finished with a 100% record. This was enough to guarantee a quarter-final place against Hunterstown in Knockbridge on September 12. Following a 2-9 to 2-6 win, Naomh Malachi accounted for O'Connells at the semi-final stage, 1-13 to 2-8 at Ardee on September 27. This was a sensational win as O'Connells had been unbeaten all year in league and championship and went into the semi-final as red-hot favourites. But the Malachis delivered a thorough performance to advance to the decider, wherein they finished the job with yet another professional display. Naomh Malachi's winning margins in their last five games of the competition were 2 points, 2 points, 3 points, 2 points and 1 point. This tells us all we need to know about the spirit, heart and desire of a club that's about to step up to the Wee County's highest grade for the third time.
In the county final, Na Piarsaigh opened the scoring in the second minute but the Mals had established a five-point lead by the eleventh minute thanks to a trio of points from free-scoring corner forward Kevin Rogers and a goal from the boot of Ronan McElroy - 1-3 to 0-1. Ronan Greene was outstanding at centre back throughout, deservedly scooping the Man of the Match award.
Playing into the stiff breeze, the winners conceded the next two points before Darragh Greene steadied them with a point that was very nearly a lovely goal. But Na Piarsaigh got the last two scores of the first half and the interval whistle sounded with just two between the teams.
Collie Rooney stretched the margin upon the resumption and goalkeeper Liam McCann did well to deny Gary O'Hare a goal. Captain Aidan Murphy also made a dramatic intervention to deny Eamon McAuley. Na Piarsaigh's goal arrived in the 33rd minute and the scores were suddenly level. Rogers restored the winners' lead with a 45-metre free but the Black & Amber edged in front. Points from Rooney, Jason Clarke, full forward McElroy, Rogers and veteran substitute Colm Murtagh had the border men four ahead with five minutes left.
The finale was extremely dramatic: Na Piarsaigh pulled back two points and were awarded a penalty deep into the three minutes of injury time. Much to the relief of every Mals man at the Dromiskin venue, Cormac Malone's late, late strike flew high over the bar - with history beckoning - and Naomh Malachi held on for a one-point success, 1-12 to 1-11.
After the final whistle, centre back Ronan Greene was a relieved man. The county final Man of the Match stated: "We were very lucky, most definitely. Penalties are 50-50, they can go either way. We probably invited them onto us too much but their hunger was unreal. We knew that they would be targeting goals. They were looking for them with about ten minutes to go, I think. We knew most of them would come from long balls into the square. It was nearly soccer-style the way they were banging on the door, but luckily we held on."
Meanwhile, the winning manager Padraig O'Neill (who was assisted by selectors Aidan Hoey, Declan Woods and Peter Rogers) felt that his side deserved the win and perhaps could have avoided the heart-palpitating late drama by seeing out the match sooner: "We worked hard and the lads dug deep and we had the chances to push on and win the game. But we didn't take them and Na Piarsaigh's experience from last year stayed with them, drove them on, and they created chances at the end. The one thing I asked for when I took this job was commitment and we haven't had less than 20 for training any night."
The Mals went into their championship campaign confidently against a Clans side struggling for form (the Dundalk men had lost four league games in a row), but it was the town outfit who prevailed by the odd point. In Round Two at Haggardstown, it was O'Raghallaighs who triumphed after an early Chris Smith goal had set them on their way. Feidhlim Daly's late strike served only to put some respectability on the scoreboard from Naomh Malachi's perspective - they had been well beaten.
The customary championship break was welcomed by the Courtbane men, who were struggling to come to terms with their return to the middle grade, and they duly found their form upon the resumption of action on July 25. After trailing by a point at the break (despite dominating the first half), Mals registered 1-4 without reply upon the restart to finish their match with the Joes as a contest. Ronan McElroy got the goal and Kevin Rogers was on target seven times during a 1-14 to 1-5 success.
Rogers hit 1-4 late on in the next round as the Malachis kept their hopes intact by turning a four-point deficit into a hard-fought two-point win over Dundalk Young Irelands in Clan Na Gael Park. Even though the Plunketts had nothing to play for, the champions-elect still had to fight all the way to win their final group game by two points in Knockbridge.
Colin Murtagh was sent off early on in the quarter-final meeting with Hunterstown and Naomh Malachi failed to raise a flag in the opening 26 minutes. Jason Clarke bagged a vital goal just before the break but they still trailed by 2-4 to 1-2 five minutes into the second half. Then came a superb comeback that was a true defining moment in the 2009 Louth club season, with Rogers, Clarke and McElroy firing over a series of points and Daly contributing the goal that sealed a famous win.
O'Connells were raging favourites for the semi-final but the Mals led at the break despite conceding two majors against the run of play. More frightening point-taking from Rogers and a McElroy goal had them 1-7 to 2-2 in front at the turnaround and late scores from McElroy, Daly and Darragh Greene ensured that the medal-loving men from Courtbane would contest - and win - yet another county final during the 'noughties.
Naomh Malachi, 2009 Louth intermediate football champions: Liam McCann; Brian Rogers, Aidan Murphy, Christopher Murphy; Peter McShane, Ronan Greene, Sean Smith; Ruairi Daly, Eamon Agnew; Mark Meegan, Darragh Greene (0-1), Jason Clarke (0-2); Kevin Rogers (0-5), Ronan McElroy (1-1), Colin Rooney (0-2). Subs: Colm Murtagh (0-1), Damien Devlin. Tweet
