Another landmark day for Louth GAA as St Mary's Ardee book Leinster final spot
Louth teams and players keep crashing through barriers in a remarkable 2024. St. Mary's Ardee kept that graph going upwards today after securing a first Leinster senior final place for a Louth club since 2002.
Another landmark day for Louth football in a season that keeps giving.
This time it was St. Mary’s Ardee, showing their mettle to defeat St. Loman’s Mullingar by a single point on their own patch at Lakepoint Park this afternoon and set up a first ever Leinster final date for the club.
Their opponents will be known this evening when Dublin’s Cuala and Offaly’s Tullamore face off at Parnell Park in the other last four tie.
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No Louth team had reached a senior provincial final since Mattock Rangers in 2002, while no club from the county has ever won the title.
This year’s decider will be just the fifth time a Louth club has made it that far. The others were Mattock Rangers (2002), Cooley Kickhams (1973 and 1976) and Newtown Blues (1970).
Louth are one of only three Leinster counties never to claim a Leinster senior club football title. The others are Kilkenny and Wexford.
Now Ardee are just an hour’s football away from making history after bridging a 22 year gap to Louth’s last final appearance.
It’s no coincidence either as they pushed Kilmacud Crokes hard in last year’s Leinster Championship and are now back to back Louth winners in a county where the standards are rising all the time.
Ardee showed great bottle to emerge on a 0-15 to 0-14 scoreline here.
But it was more heartbreak for a St. Loman’s side, who lost a Leinster final to Moorefield in a late smash and grab back in 2017 after they’d led by six points.
St. Loman’s got level late on but Ardee’s Sean Callaghan was the hero, slotting the winner three minutes into stoppage time.
It’s another signficant milestone for a county on the rise, after they defeated Dublin in this year’s Leinster under-20 championship to make the final, where they lost to Meath.
It was the first time a Louth side had beaten Dublin in Championsip at minor, under-20/21 or senior since 1996.
Louth seniors then went on to make a first ever All-Ireland quarter-final in their history after recording a first win over Meath in Championship football since 1975 and also turning over Cork in knockout football.
Craig Lennon followed that up by winning an All Star, after hitting 4-7 from wing back in this year’s championship. It was just Louth’s second All Star ever after Paddy Keenan (2010).
St. Mary’s own Donal McKenny was also nominated for an All Star, having plundered two goals for Louth from defence in this year’s championship, with Tommy Durnin and Sam Mulroy taking the Wee County's list of nominees to four.
The good times keep rolling for Louth, a county very much on the rise and St. Mary's, Ardee aren't done yet.
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