At the start of the year St Mochtas were at something of a crossroads. Having won the Junior Championship in 2004, they went on to reach the intermediate semi-finals the following year - only losing out to eventual champions the Geraldines by a single point. By James Rogers. In 2006 they were expected to mount a similar challenge but it never transpired. They failed to get beyond the group stages of the championship and were relegated down to Division Three in the league without too much of a fight. It appeared a club that undoubtedly had huge potential was now on a downward slide. At the start of the year the players and management came together and decided it was time to stop that slide. A renewed effort would be put in for the 2007 season as the Louth Village outfit sought first and foremost to restore pride and then worry about silverware later. As things turned out though, it was a truly memorable year for the club on the playing front. They clinched the Division Three title to move back up a grade for next season while there was also glory at underage level. The club also claimed the Division 4C title with a superb victory over Cooley Kickhams with the only possible disappointment of the season being their failure in the Junior Championship final when they lost out to Dundalk Young Irelands in the race for the Christy Bellew Cup. Still, no one can deny that 2007 was a turning point for St Mochtas. The club's aim of restoring its pride was achieved with the Division Three title helping them move towards the level of football they are capable of. It is the belief of many around Louth Village that St Mochtas has the makings of a senior club. This year they took the first small steps to achieving that and if further glory follows in the years to come then those associated with the club will surely look back on 2007 as a turning point in the history of the club. At the start of the year St Mochtas looked to be a club in decline. By the end of it they were very much on the up again. You get the feeling this is only the beginning though. Of course, a year like the one just gone doesn't happen without a huge effort from both the players and those behind the scenes. One of the key players in helping the club turn things around was Brendan Byrne, who in his joint roles of chairman and first team manager was one of the busiest people at Pairc Mochta this year. Looking after affairs both on and off the field is never an easy task but the Channonrock man made it look so with the club's playing success being equally matched by their ongoing development in the community. More and more youngsters were attracted to get involved in the GAA through St Mochtas and once again their superb facilities acted as the venue for a large number of crunch championship matches throughout the summer. It was quite a year all right and although the club missed out on the championship, Byrne insists they won the competition which was their main priority - the Division Three league. "It was a great year for the club," said the chairman and manager." We said earlier in the year that we'd be happy if we got promotion in the league and we achieved that. Obviously we didn't like to leave the championship behind us but we felt the league was more important for us this year so we're pleased to have come out on top in that. "It was a very long campaign especially with the way the fixtures went when we went months without a game. It was hard to keep going as a result of that but luckily enough we did. It was a huge blow to lose the Junior Championship final but we had three tough games after that and we came through them well to claim the league title and that helped lift us again," said Byrne. It was a 1-15 to 0-4 victory over Glen Emmets on the final day which helped St Mochtas to the MacArdle Cup with the club's two minor stars proving the major difference on the day. Nigel Farrell grabbed 1-3 while Declan Byrne hit 0-5. The impact those two had this season was superb and Byrne admitted they were like a breath of fresh air in the team. "Being on the Louth minor panel really stood to them and they gave us a great lift this year when they came into the team. They were both very fit and gave us something that we were missing. In saying that we have a lot of very good young lads coming through and while there is still plenty of more work to do, we feel we are moving in the right way at underage level," he said. A couple of weeks before the Division Three league success it was once again Declan Byrne and Nigel Farrell who inspired St Mochtas to glory - this time in their 0-14 to 1-7 victory over a heavily-fancied Cooley Kickhams side in the Division 4C final in Ardee. Byrne hit eight points in that win with Farrell grabbing four as further points from Glen and Gareth O'Reilly helped the Louth Village outfit to a superb success as captain Conor Ryan collected the Clarke Cup from Paddy McMahon after the game. It was the beginning of a fantastic couple of weeks for the club as the Division Three title followed soon after. It was a double that Brendan Byrne is immensely proud of. "We always wanted to win the MacArdle Cup but the Division 4C title was a major bonus considering we didn't even enter a team in it last year. It really showed that the club was moving well because when your second team is doing well that feeds through to the first time and one really goes hand in hand with the other," he said. Those two successes were added to by glory at underage level which promises for a very bright future at Pairc Mochta. The club's minor team claimed the Division Two league title while their U-16 side won their league and championship. There was also success in the U-13 grade as they won a Feile title. It was, indeed, a fantastic year.Of course, it wasn't without disappointment either. After being the form side throughout the Junior Championship campaign, St Mochtas went into the final as slight favourites with Byrne, his selectors Tony McArdle and Michael Crawley and trainer Noel Litchfield pleased with their side's preparations beforehand. Things started off brightly for them too as two points from Declan Byrne and one apiece from Barry Mulholland and Gary Connolly helped them into a 0-4 to no score lead after 17 minutes with the superb Gervaise Marron keeping Young Irelands dangerman and championship top scorer Derek Maguire in check at the other end. Things quickly went pear-shaped, however, and it would take St Mochtas until the 54th minute of the second half for them to register another score with Conor Nixon's goal six minutes earlier all but ending their hopes before that. It was a disappointing display by the Louth Village outfit but one which Brendan Byrne hopes will spur them on to championship glory in the coming year."We didn't deserve to win on the day," admitted the manager."We started well enough but we didn't get the scores our early efforts warranted and as a result of that our confidence went a bit. "They came back strong at us after that and fair play to them for doing it. We'd have liked to have won it but like I say the league was our biggest ambition this year. We'll be playing in Division Two in 2008 with teams used to competing at intermediate level so that has to be good for the lads. Hopefully that will stand to us in the long run and hopefully we can give the Junior Championship a good rattle," said Byrne. At the start of the year St Mochtas were at something of a crossroads. Since then they've chosen the right path and have the silverware to prove it. Now they're motoring well ahead of the 2008 campaign. St.Mochtas G.F.C Founded 1934 2007 will be remembered as a very successful year in St.Mochtas long history. Both the clubs adult teams had league success and there were more trophies at all under-age levels. Our U16 team amalgamated with St. Brides to win both League and Championship in Division 1, while our U18 amalgamation with St. Brides captured the Division 2 League title. Two of our minor starts Declan Byrne and Nigel Farrell also starred for the Louth minor team in its quest for Leinster success during the year. We had further success at U14, U13 and U11 level where we fielded teams selected solely from our parish of Louth. After the restructuring of the Adult Leagues for the 2007 season we found ourselves back in Junior football again. At our A.G.M we decided to return to the old system of selectors instead of the modern "Manager" and we chose three selectors to try and generate new energy into our team. Early indications were good, Paul Litchfield from Kilkerley was brought in to train the team and our League campaign started well. By the time we played our 1st. Championship match on April 21st. against N.Fionnbarra we were near the top of the Junior League. We managed to beat N. Fionnbarra by one point in Dunleer and in our four other group games. We lost just once to St.Nicholas we finished top of our group and so qualified for a semi-final where we beat Doodallshill in Knockbridge by 0-11 to 1-5. Back to League action the following week and a most important game against our nearest challengers N. Fionnbarra. In a hard fought game in Louth village, we came from 4 points down to win by a solitary point and this result proved to be the decisive one in the League title race. Sunday October 14th was the date for the Junior Championship final against Young Irelands. Unfortunately we turned in our most inept display of the year and were deservedly beaten on the day on a 1-7 to 0-7 scoreline. With the League title still to be won and with it, promotion to the Intermediate League it was back to training the following Thursday night. We won our remaining three League matches and topped the table with 21 from a possible 24 points. The McArdle Cup was presented to our Captain Gareth O'Reilly by Co. Board Chairman Paddy Oliver at Pairc Mochta on November 4th after beating Glen Emmetts. It had been last won by St. Mochtas way back in 1973. The previous Sunday in Ardee our Division 4 C team won their League Final by beating a strong Cooley Kichams B side by 0-14 to 1-7. The Clarke Cup was presented to Captain Connor Ryan by Paddy McMahon - Louth Co. Board. This is the first year in the club's 73 year history that our two Adult teams have won their respective leagues. Congratulations to all the players, selectors and trainers involved and of course all the backroom staff as well! Success at a football club doesn't just happen; it has to be earned and worked for. Having a good under-age structure is a must if a club wants to achieve results at adult level. St. Mochtas are very lucky to have some very capable under-age mentors, working tirelessly for the benefit of the G.A.A in and around Louth Village. We have a very strong under-age committee and we, as a club are very thankful to all those who give so much of their time and energy towards the improvement of all our young players, both boys and girls. Involvement in the G.A.A takes a lot of time and dedication. A successful club needs to have the facilities to cater for the ever-increasing young population in its area. This takes a committed group of people to provide these facilities and over the years St. Mochtas have been lucky to have a group of dedicated people who have worked tirelessly to build an impressive clubrooms and playing field at Pairc Mochta. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our loyal supporters and particularly our generous sponsors during the year who helped us in any way to achieve and celebrate our many victories in 2007. We look forward to your continued support to help bring our club more success both on and off the field in future years. As we look forward to 2008, we will be competing in the Intermediate League and will need to show the same commitment and more, to consolidate our position on this very competitive grade. We will still be playing in the Junior Football Championship and hopefully can go one step further next year and win the Christy Bellew Cup. At the moment the future looks bright as our under-age talent is coming through every year and the more senior players are improving with age! Hoping 2008 will bring more success to Pairc Mochta - we can cope with it! Declan Lorney P.R.O St.. Mochtas G.F.C Tweet

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