St Patricks proved themselves to be the best team in the county in 2011 by landing the Joe Ward Cup for the fourth time. Not content with adding to their impressive recent haul of Louth SFCs, the Lordship men also scooped the Paddy Sheelan Cup. The treble bid came up short when they were pipped at the semi-final stage of the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup but that minor setback takes nothing away from what was another extraordinary season for the Pats, for whom the inimitable Paddy Keenan (amongst others!) was yet again immense.

Seems to be a pretty safe bet these days that either Mattock Rangers, Newtown Blues or St Patricks will win the Joe Ward Cup. In 2011, it was the Pats who proved themselves to be the best football side in the Wee County with a stunning senior championship success that included replay victories over their biggest rivals at the semi-final and final stage of the premier competition. Throw in a group-phase victory over neighbours Cooley Kickhams and it's clear to see that Pats' first SFC triumph since 2007 was a most satisfying one!
The silverware was gleaned by virtue of a convincing 1-12 to 0-9 victory over Newtown Blues in the county final replay at Dowdallshill on Sunday, October 30th. Pats showed that they had learned most from the drawn game as they took control of proceedings with a run of 1-4 in the second quarter. They had trailed by 0-6 to 0-4 after 19 minutes but the game turned in their favour when talisman Paddy Keenan forced the ball into the Blues net.
Eamon Carroll and Danny O'Connor got the winners' first two points to tie the scores up before points from Eoin O'Connor and Danny O'Connor made it 0-4 apiece. The Blues went two ahead for the third time but the Lordship men gradually took control of midfield and points from Keenan and Carroll had them level again. When Keenan latched onto Man of the Match Ray Finnegan's delivery to notch a 25th-minute goal, the Pats were ahead for the first time, 1-6 to 0-6. Eoin O'Connor and Carroll (free) made it 1-8 to 0-6 but the shellshocked Blues pulled back one point before the short whistle.
The Drogheda side closed within two points three minutes after the restart but they would register no more scores in the 2011 Louth SFC. Keenan's 39th-minute point made it 1-9 to 0-9. Eoin O'Connor added another ten minutes later and slotted over his fourth before substitute Karl White closed the scoring in injury time. Captain Colin Goss, who put in a typically determined shift in the engine-room, had the honour of collecting the Joe Ward Cup as the celebrations understandably got underway.
It was a superb all-round team performance from the Pats with the O'Connors, Finnegan, Keenan, Carroll and Owen Zamboglou particularly catching the eye. St Patricks, 2011 Louth senior football champions: Sean Connor; Jamie O'Hare, Dessie Finnegan, Darren O'Hanlon; Eamonn Breen, Owen Zamboglou, Paudie Mallon; Colin Goss, Paddy Keenan (1-2); Eamon Carroll (0-3), Eoin O'Connor (0-4), Aidan McCann; Danny O'Connor (0-2), Shane Hynes, Ray Finnegan. Subs: Karl White (0-1) for A McCann (34); Diarmuid McArtain for E Breen (54); Conor Grogan for S Hynes (59). Barry Corcoran, Kevin Toner, Colin McCann, Damien Connor, Johnny Ryan, Aidan Ryan, Evan White, Liam Oliver, Colin Noonan, Diarmuid Murphy, Robert Arthur.
In the drawn match a fortnight earlier, Fergal Reel's charges weren't quite so impressive and they would have been beaten but for the form of 2010 All Star and county captain Paddy Keenan (0-7), who produced a Man of the Match effort and clipped over the point that ensured the sides finished level, 0-10 to 1-7. This wasn't a vintage display from the Lordship men but they hung in well and would finish the job at the second attempt.
Keenan opened the scoring from a third-minute free and added a second after the Blues had equalised. Eoin O'Connor was also on the mark but the Blues produced a purple patch to lead by 1-4 to 0-3. However, late scores from Eamon Carroll and Keenan left the north county side in touch at the break. Playing into the wind in the second half, the Pats were level within eleven minutes thanks to points from Carroll and Keenan (2) - 0-8 to 1-5.
Keenan edged St Patricks in front and full forward O'Connor was denied was foiled by a superb Stephen McCann save ten minutes from time. The Newfoundwell men were back in front with six minutes to go but it was Keenan who had the last say in the drawn match at the Gaelic Grounds. Fergal Reel's side had been devastating in their semi-final replay win over holders Mattock and they would show that they were the masters of replays with a similar showing on county final day #2.
This was the first-ever SFC final meeting of the Blues and the Pats and it was the latter who would claim their fourth title since 2000.
There was no doubting what the game of the first round of the 2011 Louth SFC was: Pats and Cooley were pitted in the same group again and the Lordship men re-affirmed their recent excellent form against their arch-rivals with a 2-11 to 1-7 Group One win at St Brigid's Park on Sunday evening, July 24th. Cooley had started brightest with 1-1 but Aidan McCann's 13th-minute goal made it 1-2 to 1-1 before Eoin O'Connor and Danny O'Connor stretched the gap to three at the end of the first quarter. When Danny O'Connor added a second Pats goal, the game was over as a contest. Pats led by 2-5 to 1-3 at the interval and never looked back.
Naomh Malachi provided opposition in the second group outing at Pairc Seamus Mhic Eochaidh on Friday, August 12th and the border club managed just one point from play as the Pats dominated from start to finish, winning by 1-10 to 0-5. The game was won when Paddy Keenan converted a 21st-minute penalty to make it 1-5 to 0-1 and the Pats progressed to the quarter-finals as group winners.
At The Grove 16 days later, Dreadnots produced a brave quarter-final performance but goals from competition top scorer Paddy Keenan (1-3) and Eoin O'Connor fired the Pats into the last four with a 2-9 to 0-10 win. St Patricks had won by a landslide when these sides met at the same stage in 2010 but this time the red-hot favourites had to dig deeper, having made the perfect start when O'Connor netted after two minutes. Keenan struck the second goal on 22 minutes and it was 2-3 to 0-3 at the break. Thirteen minutes from time, the Clogherhead men had closed the gap to two, but the peninsula side's big-match experience saw them over the winning line, with Eamon Carroll on target four times over the hour.
Defending champions Mattock and would-be champions St Patricks met for the first time at Haggardstown on Saturday, September 10th. Pats were arguably the better team but Collon kept their three-in-a-row hopes alive with a dogged display to draw, 2-8 to 0-14. A 58th-minute Paddy Keenan point had given the Pats a 0-14 to 2-6 lead but Mattock knocked over the last two points to put the Lordship men's first final appearance in four years on hold. After trailing by 2-5 to 0-6 at the interval, St Patricks bossed the second half and showed that they had the beating of their highly-rated opponents.
They confirmed this in the replay at the same venue a week later when goals from Paddy Keenan and Eoin O'Connor after four and eight minutes respectively set them on the way to a stunning 2-13 to 0-9 victory. Jamie O'Hare was sent off in the 18th minute but the Pats continued to dominate as they delivered probably their best performance of the calendar year. In short, it was a magnificent team performance, with Keenan leading the way at midfield, Owen Zamboglou nullifying the threat of David Reid and the likes of Ray Finnegan and Colin Goss also leading by example. This was a performance befitting champions and - two more battling hours of football later - the Pats would collect their just reward.
In the Paddy Sheelan Cup, St Patricks lost their first two games to Newtown Blues and Geraldines but bounced back to book a place in the quarter-finals with Group B wins over St Marys (1-12 to 0-14), St Brides (1-16 to 0-10), Na Piarsaigh (4-22 to 0-9), Clan na Gael (1-18 to 0-5) and Naomh Mairtin (2-14 to 2-6). They beat O'Connells by 2-10 to 0-4 in their quarter-final on June 21st and edged out Geraldines in a hard-fought semi-final: 3-12 to 2-12 - a week later.
The final was played in Cooley on Sunday, July 10th and an experimental St Patricks side collected the subsidiary league trophy with a 2-10 to 0-7 win over Naomh Malachi. Danny O'Connor's 36th-minute goal was the decisive score as it had the Pats in front for the first time, 1-3 to 0-5, and they won convincingly in the end, with Damien Connor adding the second major from the penalty spot on 58 minutes.
St Patricks - 2011 Paddy Sheelan Cup winners: Barry Corcoran; Jamie O'Hare, Darren O'Hanlon, Diarmuid McArtain; Paudie Mallon, Eamonn Breen, Owen Zamboglou; Colin Goss, Eoin O'Connor (0-1); Evan White, Karl White, Aidan McCann; Eamon Carroll (0-4), Shane Hynes (0-1), Danny O'Connor. Subs: Colin McCann (0-2) for K White; Sean Connor for S Hynes; Damien Connor (1-0) for S Connor; Dessie Finnegan for P Mallon; Paddy Keenan (0-2) for E White.
If that win showed that the Pats possess strength in depth, the 1-9 to 0-8 victory over Sean O'Mahonys in the 2011 Louth U16 championship final proved that there is plenty of exciting young talent on the Lordship production line. The U16 side that contributed so much to a fantastic season for St Patricks GFC was: Dean Mulligan; David Crilly, Ross Murphy, Aaron Rogers; Tommy McGovern, Mark Pagni (0-1), Joe McCann; Eoghan Lafferty, Ruairi McArtain (0-1); Joe McLoughlin, Scott Craven, Jody Keenan; Daragh Lafferty (1-5), Patrick Kirk, Dylan Lynch. Subs: Padraig Reneghan (0-1), Sean McGeough, Cillian McCarthy, Thomas Keenan. Tweet

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