What a year it was for Louth's oldest and most famous club as Dundalk Young Irelands captured the 2010 intermediate football championship to return to senior ranks for the first time in twelve years. It has been a remarkable recent journey for the Irelanders, who were playing junior football only three years ago.

Young Irelands are no longer an emerging force … they have arrived!
The genesis of some wonderful new talent in the clubhouse has transformed their fortunes in recent times and the Irelands took a significant step in their ongoing rejuvenation by landing the 2010 Louth IFC. The win means the Wee County's most historic club will be back where it belongs in 2011: senior football.
The 2010 intermediate decider took place in Ardee on Sunday evening, October 10th, and Young Irelands captured the middle-grade championship for the second time in their illustrious history with a 2-11 to 1-11 victory over Sheelan Cup winners O'Raghallaighs. Of course, the reason why the Dundalk club haven't won more IFCs is because they've spent much of their existence in the top grade, winning the SFC a staggering eleven times, the most recent success coming in 1979. Their first IFC win came in 1996 and this year's victory comes only three years after the club had won the 2007 Louth JFC. The fact that they have gone from junior to senior in three years tells its own story…
Irelands made a lightning start to the county final and effectively engraved their name on the Seamus Flood Cup by tearing into an eight-point lead inside 18 minutes. Kieran Maguire's well-drilled charges took the game by the scruff of the neck as Johnny Lynch helped himself to 1-1 inside the opening six minutes. Mark Savage and Derek Maguire added points before the former chipped in with the winners' second three-pointer, latching emphatically onto Dermot Mone's pass.
Gerry Nixon had a goalbound shot well saved by the Hoops' goalkeeper before county attacker Maguire (2) and Nicholas O'Connor supplied the points that gave the Dundalk club a 2-6 to 0-5 half-time advantage. The losers got the first two points of the second half but Maguire and Lynch responded immediately. In the 40th minute, Irelands 'keeper Criag McKenna made a brilliant save to keep his team on track. A superb point from captain Aaron Rogers three minutes later made it 2-9 to 0-7. Mone got another point for the winners as the Drogheda side got on top and Peter Nixon made two great defensive interventions to keep them at bay.
Maguire clipped the last point for the champions two minutes from the end and full back Nixon was sent off in the last minute as O'Raghallaighs finished strongly but ran out of time. Derek Maguire finished the year as Top Scorer in the IFC with a personal tally of 4-24. Corner back Ciaran Murray collected the Man of the Match award while Rogers took the Flood Cup back to the Upper Marshes. The Green & Blacks had slipped out of senior ranks in '98 and went down to junior two years later; now they are back! With an average age of just 23, there is still plenty more to come from this exciting young Pairc Eire Og outfit.
Dundalk Young Irelands - 2010 Louth intermediate football champions: Craig McKenna; Ciaran Murray, Peter Nixon, Graham Carr; Peter Flynn, Aaron Rogers (0-1), Robbie Farrell; Andrew Nixon, Gerard Nixon; Nicholas O'Connor (0-1), Derek Maguire (0-5), Johnny Lynch (1-2); Joseph Flynn, Mark Savage (1-1), Dermot Mone (0-1). Subs: Kevin Keelan, Simon Flynn.














En route to the final, the Irelanders finished top of their group with wins over Hunterstown Rovers and St Josephs before recording a comprehensive twelve-point quarter-final win against Oliver Plunketts. That set up a semi-final joust with St Mochtas - a repeat of the 2007 JFC final). At Ardee, Young Irelands held on to book their place in the final with a two-point win.
Twelve teams took part in the 2010 Louth IFC. These were provisionally divided into four groups of three, from which the top two sides in each section would progress to contest the quarter-finals. The draw for the group phase in February placed DYI in Group D alongside Hunterstown Rovers and St Josephs.
Young Irelands ensured that they would be in the Last Eight by beating Hunterstown by a point in their opening group game, 2-7 to 1-9. Late points from Nicholas O'Connor and goalscorer Mark Savage gave the winners a 1-6 to 1-5 lead at the break before Derek Maguire netted the clinching goal in the 48th minute. This was the team: Tom O'Connor; Michael Mone, Graham Carr, Cian O'Naraigh; Peter Flynn, Aaron Rogers, Robbie Farrell; Nicholas O'Connor (0-2), Andrew Nixon; Ciaran Murray, Joseph Flynn (0-1), Johnny Lynch; Dermot Mone, Derek Maguire (1-2), Mark Savage (1-2). Subs: Simon Flynn, Sean Bailey, Gerard Nixon, Peter Nixon.
With progress already assured for both teams, the second group match against St Josephs determined who went through to the knockout stage as group winners. At The Ramparts on Friday August 20th, the Irelanders recorded a 2-16 to 1-12 win to claim top place in Group Four and a quarter-final date with Oliver Plunketts. Derek Maguire - part of the Louth team that achieved such heroic success during the summer - delivered an incredible scoring performance as he bagged 2-7 of the winning tally. The team for the second group game was: Aaron Conway; Michael Mone, Graham Carr, Ciaran Murray; Peter Flynn, Aaron Rogers, Robbie Farrell; Gerard Nixon, Kevin Keelan (0-1); Nicholas O'Connor, Johnny Lynch (0-2), Joseph Flynn (0-1); Dermot Mone (0-2), Derek Maguire (2-7), Mark Savage (0-2). Subs: Cian O'Naraigh, Peter Nixon (0-1), Ryan Moran, Sean Bailey.
Wet and windy Haggardstown was the venue for the quarter-final against the Plunketts on September 5th and it proved to be a formality for the would-be champions as they cruised to a 1-12 to 0-3 victory. Johnny Lynch got the only goal of the game after three minutes and, having played into the stiff breeze, the winners held a commanding 1-4 to 0-2 lead at the turnaround. Giving a very solid all-round team performance, Kieran Maguire's men remained in control for the second 30 minutes, advancing comfortably with the following team on duty: Craig McKenna; Ciaran Murray, Peter Nixon, Michael Mone; Robbie Farrell, Aaron Rogers, Peter Flynn; Andrew Nixon, Gerard Nixon; Nicholas O'Connor (0-1), Johnny Lynch (1-1), Joseph Flynn; Dermot Mone (0-2), Derek Maguire (0-5), Mark Savage (0-3). Subs: Kevin Keelan, Graham Carr, Simon Flynn.
The semi-final against the Mochtas at Ardee on Saturday September 11th was a right thriller. DYI played some fantastic football in the first three quarters and looked to be sailing through when leading by 2-10 to 0-6 after 50 minutes. However, the Louth village side mounted a stirring late revival - hitting 1-5 without reply - and the town club had to demonstrate some battling qualities of their own to prevail by 2-10 to 1-11 in the end. Johnny Lynch netted at the second attempt to give Irelands a 1-6 to 0-4 half-time lead and Derek Maguire added the second three-pointer three minutes after the restart. Dundalk Young Irelands - IFC semi-final V St Mochtas: Craig McKenna; Ciaran Murray, Peter Nixon, Michael Mone; Robbie Farrell, Aaron Rogers, Peter Flynn; Andrew Nixon, Gerard Nixon; Nicholas O'Connor (0-2), Johnny Lynch (1-2), Joseph Flynn; Dermot Mone, Derek Maguire (1-5), Mark Savage (0-2). Subs: Graham Carr, Kevin Keelan, Simon Flynn, Sean Bailey. Tweet

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