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December 30, 2010For five years, Knockbridge had monopolised Louth hurling. For ten years, Naomh Moninne had failed to land the county SHC. All that changed at Castlebellingham on the last Sunday of September, 2010 when the famous Black & Amber brigade from Dundalk regained the Paddy Kelly Cup by virtue of a rousing second-half performance against the defending champions. Victory was no more than Moninne deserved as they had been the outstanding team in the competition, winning all five of their round-robin games to reach the final with a 100% record. When the final whistle sounded at The Grove, that record remained intact and the Cup was coming home…
Dermot Plunkett struck the decisive goal in the 39th minute as Ger Collins' charges reaped the rewards of the club's enormous investment in juvenile development. Midfielder and Man of the Match Donal Rafferty was only 20, while other young members of the winning team included Stephen Rafferty, Philip Englishby, Andrew Mackin and Oisin Drumm. Captain Diarmuid Murphy was one of the veterans of the team at 29.
Considering how long Naomh Moninne had played second fiddle to Knockbridge (and third fiddle to Pearse Og, one could argue), the emotional scenes at the final whistle were understandable.
Nerves seemed to get the better of the winners in the first half as they delivered a bitty performance despite the boost of an opening point from Diarmuid Murphy after just two minutes. Following a great save from James Connolly, Murphy landed two more frees to tie the scores up at 0-3 each. Knockbridge replied with three in a row and Padraig Murphy posted for the Black & Amber before the villagers closed the first-half scoring to lead by 0-7 to 0-4 at the break.
Darren O'Hanrahan got Naomh Moninne's next point but it was bookended by two frees from Knockbridge, who led by four seven minutes into the second half. However, the match was transformed when Plunkett demonstrated impressive predatory instinct to strike the only goal of the game nine minutes after the restart. Suddenly, Moninne had a spring in their stride and, despite another Knockbridge point, they rallied with points from Philip Englishby and Murphy to draw level at the start of the fourth quarter, 1-7 to 0-10.
Another free saw the losers back in front seven minutes from the end but two Murphy frees made it 1-9 to 0-11 with a minute remaining. O'Hanrahan bagged the insurance point and Murphy elected to pop an injury-time penalty over the bar as the celebrations commenced. The champions had finished strongly thanks in no small part to the input of trainer Kieran Somers.
Naomh Moninne, 2010 Louth senior hurling champions: James Connolly; Stephen Rafferty, Pearse Doherty, Dermot Plunkett (1-0); Barry Murphy, Diarmuid Murphy (0-8), Ger Collins; Donal Rafferty, Darren O'Hanrahan (0-2); Philip Englishby (0-1), Oisin Drumm, Padraig Murphy; Stephen Ryan, Eddie McArdle, Andrew Mackin. Subs: Mark McGuinness for S Rafferty (h/t), Declan Byrne for P Murphy (53), Padraig Fallon for D O'Hanrahan. Not used: Padraic Mulholland, Ronan Geoghegan, Mark McGuinness, Andrew McArdle, Liam Blundell, Philip Kehoe, Jamie Kerr, Sean McLaughlin, Darren Tuffy, Donal Griffin, Mark McDonnell, David Bellew, Padraic Fallon, Conor McBride.
Outside of Louth, Moninne had given a great account of themselves in the All-Ireland Seven-a-Side Shield in Dublin on Saturday, September 4th, narrowly missing out on a semi-final place. The Dundalk club beat Slashers Gaels of Longford in their opening assignment (5-4 to 5-1) and also beat Sean McCumhaills from Donegal (5-8 to 3-6) before losing their group decider to Tyrone outfit Eoghan Rua (7-6 to 4-6). The following panel was on duty: James Connolly, Eddie McArdle, Andrew Mackin, Diarmuid Murphy, Barry Murphy, Andrew Mackin, Ronan Geoghegan, Oisin Drumm, Darren O'Hanrahan, Donal Rafferty.
And in Division Three of the Leinster club hurling league, Moninne got to the quarter-final stage in April, having won all three of their group games. However, they narrowly failed to reach the semi-finals when Dublin club Round Towers landed three second-half majors in as many minutes to prevail by 4-15 to 1-19 in a thriller at Dowdallshill.
When the 2010 Louth senior hurling league commenced, Naomh Moninne were far from battle-hardened but they opened their account with a hard-fought 4-8 to 1-6 victory over a resolute St Fechins at Lordship on Sunday, April 11th. Moninne actually trailed by a point at the break but substitute Ronan Geoghegan got them out of jail with a magnificent hat-trick of second-half goals. Hardly an inspirational start to the league but it was the championship that was Moninne's main priority this year…
They opened their SHC programme with a 2-15 to 0-7 defeat of Wolfe Tones at Haggardstown on Sunday July 4th. Diarmuid Murphy got seven points, while Eddie McArdle bagged 1-2 for the Black & Amber.
Thirteen days later, Moninne beat St Fechins by 3-13 to 0-9 in Stabannon. Late goals from Oisin Drumm and Eddie McArdle ensured a 2-6 to 0-3 interval lead and substitute Padraig Mulholland fired the third goal nine minutes from full time.
The third round provided the first real test of player-manager Ger Collins' team and they passed with flying colours by recording their first championship win over Knockbridge since 1999 - 2-12 to 0-9 at Clan na Gael Park on Friday, July 23rd. Ronan Geoghegan claimed the first goal after the opening four points had been shared and the winners led by 1-4 to 0-6 at the interval. Moninne took complete control after Padraig Mulholland supplied their second major in the 44th minute, clipping over six unanswered points, including three from captain Diarmuid Murphy.
It was four wins from four when Mattock Rangers were beaten by 1-17 to 1-9 at Ballybailie on Saturday August 13th. Ronan Geoghegan got the winners' only goal in the eighth minute and they never really looked back as they eased closer to a first final appearance since 2004. Geoghegan also knocked over five first-half points as Moninne led by 1-10 to 0-5 at the break.
Against town rival Pearse Og at The Clans on Saturday August 28th, even a draw would have been enough to secure a place in the county showcase and the Black & Amber more than obliged with a super 2-16 to 2-8 victory. Eddie McArdle and Padraig Murphy hit the goals in the first half and the would-be champions led by 2-6 to 0-7 at the turnaround. They also edged the second half to power through to the decider, wherein they would create history with a ninth county SHC victory, one year after celebrating their 50th anniversary. And there were good signs for the future in 2010 as the club captured the U14 Feile na nGael title. Tweet
