Louth's senior footballers made it two consignments of major silverware in one season when they emphatically accounted for Leitrim in the Tommy Murphy Cup final at Croke Park on Sunday August 27. The stunning 3-14 to 1-11 victory at HQ buried memories of the second-half Leinster championship aberration against Meath and completed a very satisfactory first year at the helm for new boss Eamonn McEneaney. Nobody could argue with the merit of Louth's 2006 Tommy Murphy Cup success. The Wee County were the best team in the secondary championship competition all year and a whopping aggregate return of 8-63 (an average of almost 2-16) from four outings tells its own story. Consigned to take part in the alternative senior football championship after unluckily losing their first-round SFC qualifier to Tyrone after a replay in Omagh, Louth recorded outstanding wins over Clare (in Ennis - midweek!), neighbours Monaghan, regular opponents Antrim and Dessie Dolan's vastly-improved Leitrim (who ran Mayo within a point in Connacht!) to capture the Tommy Murphy Cup and give themselves a major confidence boost as they prepare for the challenge of Division One football in 2007. In the final, played at Croke Park ahead of the epic Dublin/Mayo All-Ireland semi-final in late August (what a bonus that was for Louth supporters who made the journey to the capital), the Reds registered an unbelievable 3-13 from play, including 2-7 in the opening period, with the goals finished to the net by Brian White and Shane Lennon. Having completely outclassed Leitrim during those early exchanges, they were thoroughly deserving of a commanding eight-point interval advantage. The manager opted for experience in the final, proving that he was going all out for the trophy and the brilliant prize of a team trip to Boston in October. Thus, despite a comfortable semi-final win over Antrim at Dundalk, the management team decided to recall Mark Brennan, Ronan Carroll and Darren Clarke in attack with Dessie Finnegan, Sean O'Neill and Colm Judge making way, while regular full back Colin Goss came into defence, with Alan Page moving to the bench. The team in red settled quickest and tore into a five-point lead (1-4 to 0-2) inside the first quarter. Darren Clarke grabbed a nonchalant opening point after only 50 seconds and Paddy Keenan added a second before the losers replied with a fourth-minute Ciaran Duignan free. The first goal arrived in the fifth minute when the lively John O'Brien, who started at centre back, made an incisive run forward before sending a low drive across the face of the Leitrim goal. Brian White was on hand to slide in and knock the ball to the back of an empty Canal End net: 1-2 to 0-1. James Clancy swapped points with Shane Lennon. Demonstrating slicker movement and total territorial dominance, Louth were easily picking holes in the Leitrim rearguard: White was denied a second major when goalkeeper Colin McCrann thwarted him in a one-on-one but the Cooley attacker swivelled to convert Louth's fourth point soon after. Maurading wing back Ray Finnegan added to the tally with a 22nd-minute point and Louth goalkeeper Stuart Reynolds was quick off his line to twice deny Leitrim a possible major against the run of play. Ronan Carroll effortlessly made it 1-6 to 0-2 with a good left-footed score and Clarke extended the differential just before the half-hour mark. Louth got the second goal their superiority richly deserved in the 31st minute as Lennon outjumped Leitrim custodian McCrann on the edge of the square to punch Clarke's delivery to the net - 2-7 to 0-2. Leitrim gave themselves a glimmer of hope by notching three successive scores at the end of the half: influential substitute Declan Maxwell announced his arrival with a point and Barry Prior got another after Maxwell's knockdown. Duignan then knocked over his second free and the margin was down from eleven points to eight. Louth No.3 Goss went over on his ankle and was replaced by Alan Page, and the short whistle sounded with the Wee County in control: 2-7 to 0-5. In truth, the margin could have been greater. Duignan took his third conversion on the restart and Clarke put an end to Leitrim's scoring sequence when he took his point from close range in the 40th minute after good play by the hard-working Finnegan. Duignan followed his fourth free with a beautiful point from play and Louth's lead was beginning to look wobbly for the first time eight minutes after the resumption - 2-8 to 0-8. Sensing the danger, Keenan began to get to grips with things in the middle again and the graceful midfielder created scoring opportunities for both Rooney and Clarke inside a minute: the former hooked his effort wide while Clarke's uncanny accuracy dissected the posts with aplomb. With captain Martin Farrelly putting in a typically industrious performance, Brennan and Keenan combined well to place Clarke for his third point of the half - and fifth in total. The Ardee man turned confidently to make it 2-10 to 0-8. Maxwell pulled one back for the losers and Clarke's 52nd-minute point was Louth's only of the match from a free. Clarke was Louth's sole scorer in the third quarter and his four points were sufficient to maintain his side's eight-point cushion: 2-11 to 0-9. Leitrim sub Noel Doonan goaled within seconds of coming on and Louth sprung both Christy Grimes and Trevor O'Brien before Clarke grabbed another Wee County point from close range. Ronan Carroll punished Leitrim sloppiness from Duignan and Prior with his second point - a lovely finish after a nice feint in front of the posts - and Louth still led comfortably with eight minutes left: 2-13 to 1-9. Duignan brought his tally to 0-6 and, two minutes from the end, workaholic Louth No.11 Mark Brennan got the point his excellent afternoon's industry merited. Rooney drove a last-minute shot to the net via the boot of full back John McKeon and a late Leitrim consolation point could take none of the gloss off a thoroughly-convincing scoreline that reflected a wonderful all-round display. When Farrelly received the Murphy Cup after the final whistle, it was an apt end to a powerful four-game campaign that hints at continuing progress in the Wee County ranks. After the match, Eamonn McEneaney was quick to praise his players: "Score 3-13 from play in any game and you would have to be happy with that. Nobody has opened up Leitrim all year. I think that is the highest score anyone has got against them." Louth booked their place in the final when they comprehensively defeated Antrim at Dowdallshill on Saturday August 12. The Wee County may not have been at full strength for the visit of the Saffrons but that didn't stop them going on a semi-final scoring spree as they shot down the northerners by 0-22 to 0-8. Most of the damage was done in the second half, after the hosts led by just three at the interval, 0-9 to 0-6. Word had it that Mickey Culbert's charges were injury-ravaged and it showed in the second period as Louth cruised to the winning post. Shane Lennon and Brian White were the scorers-in-chief with 0-4 apiece and this deadly duo terrorised the Antrim defence all afternoon. Encouragingly, a total of eleven Louth players got their names on the scoresheet, including substitutes Darren Clarke, Mark Brennan, Hugh McGinn and David Reid. Lennon was on fire in the second-round defeat of Monaghan eight days earlier. This was a potentially tricky assignment, especially as the Wee County were severely depleted, but a phenomenal personal haul of 3-5 from the Kilkerley Emmets marksman eased the hosts to a 3-13 to 1-13 win at St Brigid's Park on Friday August 4. Monaghan had torn into a 1-5 to 0-2 lead inside the first quarter but Lennon's first two majors, followed quickly by points from Paddy Keenan and Ronan Carroll, gave the Reds a 2-7 to 1-6 interval cushion. When Lennon completed his hat-trick five minutes after the turnaround, Louth's place in the Last Four was virtually assured. Louth had signalled their ambitions in the Tommy Murphy Cup when they brought a full-strength squad to Ennis for their first-round clash with Clare on a Tuesday night. The July 25th opener was as treacherous as the Division Two winners could have asked for, but they survived the long journey and the midweek appointment with a magnificent 2-14 to 3-9 success in an absolute thriller. Shane Lennon and Paddy Keenan scored the goals in either half. This was the toughest challenge Louth faced in the glorious Murphy Cup campaign and was a victory full of merit. The manager spoke rather prophetically before the match: "We're going to Ennis to win and, while the situation is hardly ideal, anyone who knows me will tell you that I like to win no matter what, even if it is a challenge game. We're going to take as much as we can out of this competition…" Louth made a perfect start when Lennon netted inside 20 seconds but the sides were level at the short whistle, 1-4 apiece. A John O'Brien point had the visitors three clear within six minutes of the restart but Clare levelled with a second goal. Keenan fired his goal in the 46th minute and Louth led by 2-9 to 2-5 when JP Rooney was sent off for a second yellow card six minutes later, with quarter of the game remaining. The next eight points were shared to leave Louth still four ahead with a minute of normal time remaining. Clare grabbed their third goal right at the death but Man of the Match Keenan steadied Louth with the last score of the game - a lovely insurance point. It was the beginning of a journey that would end in triumph at Croke Park… Louth, 2006 Murphy Cup winners: S Reynolds; D Brennan, C Goss, J O'Brien; P McGinnity, M Fanning, R Finnegan (0-1); M Farrelly, P Keenan (0-1); B White (1-1), M Brennan (0-1), R Carroll (0-2); D Clarke (0-7), S Lennon (1-1), JP Rooney (1-0). Subs: A Page, M Stanfield, C Grimes, T O'Brien, D Finnegan Tweet

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