St Josephs' minor footballers have laid down a clear marker for the future by winning back-to-back Louth MFCs. The Dromiskin/Darver lads retained the Larry Murray Cup in 2010 with a wonderful 3-9 to 1-11 defeat of Dreadnots in the county final at The Gaelic Grounds on Sunday September 26th.

Having beaten Geraldines in the '09 minor final to capture a first MFC crown as a sole entity, St Josephs minors created more history this year and demonstrated enough class to suggest they'll be a force at senior level in the not-too-distant future.
The young Joes really showed their mettle in the 2010 county minor decider at Drogheda on the last Sunday in September. They trailed a formidable Clogherhead side for much of the hour and were two points adrift going into the final ten minutes - 1-9 to 2-4. But captain Alan Lynch floated over a point and midfielder Robert Sansom produced a fine 52nd-minute finish to the net to turn the game in the Joes' favour. Even though Dreadnots pulled one back, the brilliant Lorcan Doyle laid claim to the Man of the Match accolade with a wonderful run of four late clinching points.
Lynch and Conal Smyth were also outstanding in the winners' attack, but the Joes delivered a magnificent team performance all over the field, with midfielder Daire McKiernan and corner back Chris Brennan also especially prominent.
The Joes started brightly with points from Lynch and Jack McNamee inside the opening three minutes. Lynch then found the net on ten minutes to make it 1-2 to 0-1. But Dreadnots dominated the remainder of the first half, hitting 1-5 without reply to lead by 1-6 to 1-2 by the 29th minute. But this Joes side was nothing if not spirited and a disputed Doyle goal had them in touch at the short whistle, 1-6 to 2-2.
Smyth floated over the equaliser before Dreadnots landed three in a row to lead by three after 40. The Joes hung in there like a team experienced beyond their years and made a decisive late burst to bring the minor Cup back to Cluskey Park for twelve more months.
The club's IFC bid may have come unstuck rather unfortunately when a last-gasp point consigned the Joes to a narrow quarter-final defeat to O'Raghallaighs, but the minors more than salvaged the season with a fantastic, history-making triumph. St Josephs, 2010 Louth minor football champions: Shane McQuillan; Chris Brennan, Ciaran O'Hare, Philip Brennan; Liam O'Leary, Sean McQuillan, Dara Smith; Daire McKiernan, Robert Sansom (1-0); Jack McNamee (0-1), Alan Lynch (1-2), John McKenna; Alan Quigley, Conal Smyth (0-1), Lorcan Doyle (1-4). Subs: Ian McDonald for J McKenna (h/t), Jack Mulligan for J McNamee (50). Rest of panel: Stephen Callan, Fearghal McDonald, Kieran Langan, Robert Neary, Ciaran Hennigan, Gareth Yore, Jake Keenan.
The all-conquering backroom team comprised Alan McKenna, Jason Hoey, Brendan O'Donoghue, Aaron Smith and Thomas McNamee. Victorious captain Alan Lynch, Alan Quigley and Robert Sansom had represented the Wee County at minor level during the year, while the following players won second successive county minor medals: Ian McDonald, Robert Neary, Sean McQuillan, Daire McKiernan, Jack Mulligan, Jack McNamee, Robert Sansom, Kieran Langan, Kieran O'Hare, Conal Smith, Alan Lynch, Alan Quigley, Liam O'Leary, Stephen Callan, Philip Brennan, Chris Brennan, John McKenna, Dara Smith and Lorcan Doyle.
After making the breakthrough in spectacular fashion by winning the 2009 MFC, as well as reaching the U21 final, the Joes made a sluggish start to 2010 by losing their first three competitive games to St Marys, Geraldines and Mochtas/Hill/O'Mahonys. However, they regrouped superbly with wins over the Clans and Dreadnots and a draw with Cooley to just miss out on a Top Four finish in Division One of the minor league. But, crucially, the players had rediscovered their winning touch in time for the championship…
In the first round of the knockout competition, the defending champions defeated Mochtas/Hill/O'Mahonys (and Annaghminnon) by 1-11 to 0-9 at sun-kissed Louth village on Wednesday September 1st. Joes trailed by 0-4 to 0-3 after 29 minutes, with all those scores coming from frees. Points in injury time from Lorcan Doyle, John McKenna and Sean McQuillan left the holders ahead by 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval. Doyle and McKenna made it a two-point game after the four-club amalgamation had levelled. Alan Lynch struck
for the decisive goal ten minutes from the end and Smyth, Doyle and Alan Quigley all added to the winning tally. The hosts got their first score from open play in injury time.
The side on quarter-final duty was: Shane McQuillan; Chris Brennan, Kieran O'Hare, Philip Brennan; Liam O'Leary, Sean McQuillan (0-1), Dara Smith; Daire McKiernan, Robert Samson; Jack McNamee, Alan Lynch (1-2), John McKenna (0-2); Alan Quigley (0-1), Conal Smyth (0-2), Lorcan Doyle (0-2). Subs: Kieran Langan for Chris Brennan, Jack Mulligan for Jack McNamee.
That great win propelled the Joes U18s through to the semi-final stage of the knockout competition, wherein they faced Cooley Kickhams, carving out an impressive 1-12 to 0-12 victory at Clan na Gael Park. Centre forward Alan Lynch and full forward Conal Smyth notched eleven points between them. An even first half ended with the teams on level terms, 0-8 apiece, but midfield dynamo Robert Sansom struck for the decisive goal shortly after the restart to send the champions through to another county final. This was the semi-final line-up: Shane McQuillan; Chris Brennan, Ciaran O'Hare, Philip Brennan; Liam O'Leary, Daire McKiernan, Dara Smith; Sean McQuillan, Robert Sansom (1-0); Jack McNamee (0-1), Alan Lynch (0-5), Kieran Langan; Alan Quigley, Conal Smyth (0-6), Lorcan Doyle.
As had been the case the previous year, the club's U16s entered into a championship Shield final mere days after the Larry Murray Cup heist. At floodlit Darver, Liam O'Leary (1-4) fisted a first-half goal to establish a 1-10 to 0-4 interval advantage over O'Raghallaighs and Joes had second-half majors from Dean Matthews (1-10), Andrew Kierans, Craig Doherty and Johnny McKnight to win by 5-17 to 4-6. O'Leary, Shane McQuillan and captain Ciaran Hennigan had all been part of the minor set-up.
All in all, it was a sensational year for St Josephs at underage level and - with this wonderful crop of footballers in the pipeline - there could be many more big occasions around the corner for the Cluskey Park outfit. Tweet

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