With Louth GAA's greatest romance going through a rough patch, many observers even went so far as to declare that it was all 'off'. However, Newtown Blues and Joe Ward are back together now and - on the evidence of the Newfoundwell club's refusal to let go in 2001 - looking more inseparable than ever. Gerry Robinson reports on how the Blues have once more become very attached to the Wee County's most famous trophy. It's official: the Blues are back. It may have been a long hard slog but, eight games later, Newtown Blues finally fulfilled their Mission Statement of winning back to back Louth senior football championships. When Colm Nally lifted the Joe Ward Cup for the second successive year at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday September 16th to prove that the previous year's return to prominence was no isolated incident, their supporters were entitled to celebrate. It's official: the Blues are back. County final The target was reached with an emphatic 1-13 to 0-8 victory over competition surprise packets Mattock Rangers when the Blues lived up to their favourites' billing with strong finishes to each half. Indeed, with seven minutes left they were by no means out of sight, holding only a slender 0-10 to 0-7 lead but they kept their composure and put all their experience to good effect to pull away for a comfortable victory. The underdogs got off to the better start when converting a free in the opening minute but Mickey McQuillan's charges didn't let the Collon men settle or get any kind of foothold in the game. And, while Mattock simply couldn't find the rhythm that had characterised their play in earlier rounds, credit for this must go to the Blues who effectively snuffed them out. Twenty-four minutes into the first half, the match appeared delicately poised, the Blues marginally in front, 0-5 to 0-4. It was imperative that they tagged on a few more scores at this stage as they'd had the wind at their backs for the opening period and needed to bring reasonable superiority into the break. Up stepped the man for all seasons Colin Kelly to hit three unanswered points - two from placed balls - to put a bit more respectability on the half-time scoreboard: Newtown Blues 0-8, Mattock Rangers 0-4. That initial Mattock point was followed by Blues scores from Colin Kelly - after a neat interchange with Ronan Phillips - and wing back Raymond Hughes. The next two points went to Collon who led by 0-3 to 0-2 and there was no more scoring in the first quarter. With the outstanding Keith Lynch starting to take control of things in the middle of the field, Newtown moved up a gear. They drew level in the 16th minute when Kelly was set up by Simon Gerrard. Eoghan Judge gathered possession from the kick-out and fed Hughes who had all the time in the world to tap over and give the Blues a lead they would not relinquish for the game's remainder. In the 21st minute the sky blues sent over arguably the score of the game. A Mattock free was sharply intercepted and Paul Kelly manoeuvred his body athletically to send over a massive point from all of 40 yards. Inspirational. 0-5 to 0-3. Mattock pulled one back and then came Kelly's late late show to give the winners a four-point half-time cushion. The challengers pulled a point back three minutes into the second half before Man of the Match Keith Lynch took control of matters when seizing the ball and whipping it over from 35 yards. A Mattock point in the 41st minute left the score 0-9 to 0-6 in favour of the champions and Lynch broke through the middle to add his second point and extend their lead... ...and so we arrived at the aforementioned juncture whereby there were three points in it with seven minutes to play. Time to stand up and be counted - and it was all Blues men who stepped forward. Mattock desperately needed a goal and the longer the game went on the less likely this became. Instead, the Blues took things by the scruff of the neck and pulled away. Kelly pointed a 54th minute free and Phillips added another after Paddy Stone's shot crashed back off the crossbar. Five minutes later the prolific Kelly grabbed his sixth of the evening and substitute Anthony Donaghy put the icing on the cake with a last-minute goal. Final score: Newtown Blues 1-13, Mattock 0-8 The Blues went into the final as firm favourites, not alone on the grounds that they were defending champions but also because they had built up an aura of invincibility during the course of a seven-match slog en route to the final. There appeared to be something in their psyche that said 'We will not be beaten'. As manager Mickey McQuillan so succinctly put it: "They appear to have mastered the art of winning games even when not playing well'. The new structure may have caused a lot of uncertainty in its early days but one thing was always beyond doubt - the Joe Ward Cup would no longer be easily won. The sprint has been extended into a marathon; the flat to a steeplechase. Victory could not be achieved without first being earned. And boy did the Blues earn it in 2001! In the Group stages they found themselves in the same section as Stabannon Parnells, Glyde Rangers and St Brides. They defeated both the Brides (1-14 to 0-7) and Glyde (0-16 to 2-8) but came a cropper under controversial circumstances in their third game against Stabannon (0-10 to 1-10). Thus, a three-way play-off was required to determine which two from the Blues, Stabannon and St Brides would advance to the knock-outs. A narrow defeat of the Knockbridge men (1-12 to 2-6) ensured rites of passage to the last eight, where St Josephs provided the opposition. This meeting was an absolute humdinger and the Blues had to be at their brilliant best just to stay with Ollie McDonnell and his colleagues yet alone beat them. But beat them they did after a pulsating draw (0-14 apiece) and replay plus extra time (2-21 to 3-13). A fine semi-final victory over Cooley Kickhams (0-13 to 1-8) booked their place in the final and a 17th SFC was duly annexed. Group D outings V Brides, Glyde and Stabannon Newtown Blues 1-14 St Brides 0-7 A run of 1-7 without reply either side of the interval was instrumental in seeing the defending champions crush the men from Knockbridge in their first outing of the new campaign. The game took place at Dunleer on the first Sunday in June and the Newfoundwell dynamos won well in spite of having Damien Martin sent off for a second bookable offence five minutes into the second half. The Blues trailed by 0-3 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter but Man of the Match Keith Lynch - starting a magnificent personal campaign as he meant to go on - fired the equaliser before Brides registered what would be their last score for a full 20 minutes. The champions finished the half strongly with points from Colin Kelly, Thomas Carr, Raymond Hughes and Anthony Donaghy to lead by three at the break, 0-7 to 0-4. Lynch added to the lead on the resumption and the sending off did little to halt the Blues rampage. Donaghy and Lynch were both on the mark to put the growing gap at 0-10 to 0-4. The game was emphatically put beyond Brides' reach in the 40th minute when Paddy Stone netted a splendid goal. It was a cruise from here in as Thomas Carr, Kelly, Simon Gerrard and Stone added points to complete the rout. Newtown Blues 0-16 Glyde Rangers 2-8 Dunleer was the venue again a fortnight later and the Blues were given a much sterner examination by competition new boys Glyde. They never really looked themselves - perhaps this was something to do with the fact that they were in a changed kit of white! They held what appeared a comfortable lead, 0-15 to 1-6, with time almost up but Glyde rallied with a goal and two points to pull within the minimum and give the "Whites" the fright of their lives. However, Colin Kelly kept his composure and set up Colin Kierans for the assurance point. It was a lively, entertaining match, with both sides concentrating exclusively on playing football. The winners surged rapidly into a 0-6 to 0-2 lead thanks to scores from Keith Lynch, Ronan Phillips, Martin Phillips, Anthony Donaghy (2) and Kelly. Leading by 0-9 to 0-6 at the interval, they got the first score of the second half courtesy of Ronan Phillips. They then hit the next three points on the bounce to lead by seven, 0-13 to 0-6, as the game bobbed into its final quarter. Glyde now threw everything at them bar the little black stopper out of the kitchen sink but it wasn't enough. Alas, were the Blues to have been overhauled, the little black stopper would have been required! Stabannon Parnells 1-10 Newtown Blues 0-10 The only blip in the campaign occurred when a controversial penalty decision undid the Blues against Stabannon. Playing with a strong breeze in the first half, the mid Louth men built up a substantial 1-8 to 0-3 advantage against a depleted Blues side (Brian Murphy, Breen Phillips, Thomas Carr and Padraig Stone were all injured) which registered only three Colin Kelly frees in the opening half-hour. The penalty decision came a minute before the short whistle when Stephen Delehan was harshly adjudged to have blocked with his foot and Nicholas Butterly made no mistake from the spot, giving Colm Nally no chance. The Blues were a different proposition in the second half and points from Eoghan Judge, Ronan Phillips and Anthony Donaghy within the first four minutes brought them right back into it. Kelly eased them within a goal in the 40th minute but the next two scores went to the opposition. Ronan Phillips gave the Drogheda side hope again with another point but they could only manage two points from Kelly frees in the closing eleven minutes and fell to a rare defeat. Play-off Newtown Blues 1-12 St Brides 2-6 The offshoot of the Stabannon setback was that Group D went to a three-way play-off, with everyone except Glyde still in contention. The Blues faced St Brides for the second time at Pairc Mhuire in Ardee on Thursday July 26th with a quarter-final place up for grabs. Without ever imposing themselves on the game or playing like champions, Mickey McQuillan's men managed to scrape through in a somewhat unconvincing fashion, 1-12 to 2-6. The Drogheda men were certainly under pressure when a Brides goal saw them draw level twelve minutes into the second half but they managed to sneak back in front every time their opponents drew level thereafter and still had enough in the tank to pull away slightly in the closing stages. Even though Anthony Donaghy, Padraig Stone and Brian Murphy were all missing, the Blues controlled the first 25 minutes and led at one stage by 1-7 to 0-3. It was 0-3 apiece after 13 minutes, the Blues scores coming from Colin Kelly and Keith Lynch (2). The purple patch that followed produced points from Martin Phillips, Colin Kelly, Thomas Carr and Ronan Phillips (from a 17th minute penalty). The Blues goal arrived seven minutes from the break when Colin Kierans scored a real 'screamer' from an acute angle. The concession of a goal on the stroke of the short whistle left the half-time score 1-7 to 1-3 in Blues' favour. A goal and a point in the second period's first twelve minutes brought Brides back on terms before, on the three-quarters mark, Martin Phillips pointed from a very presentable goalscoring opportunity. Blues were under the kosh and St Brides levelled again eight minutes from time. Kelly nosed Newtown Blues back in front and when the sticky Brides levelled again it looked as if the Blues challenge might wilt. But scores in the last five minutes from Kelly, Lynch (giving another Man of the Match performance) and Kierans were enough to drag them over the finishing line. Quarter-final(s) against St Josephs Newtown Blues 0-14 St Josephs 0-14 This engrossing draw was played out at Dunleer on Sunday August 5th and the champions had to come from two points down late on to force a replay. The Blues raced into a five points lead thanks to Paul Kelly, Keith Lynch (2), Martin Phillips and Thomas Carr but the Joes soon levelled before Simon Gerrard sneaked the Newfoundwelll men back in front. When the Dromiskin/Darver side equalised again, it sparked the Blues to life and they hit the next four points on the bounce through Man of the Match Carr (2), Paul Kelly and Ronan Phillips. They led by 0-10 to 0-7 at the break. Despite another super point from Carr, the Joes fought back to lead for the first time in the 42nd minute, 0-12 to 0-11. Ronan Phillips brought the sides level for the fourth time at twelve points apiece and the Blues then enjoyed their biggest slice of fortune of the entire campaign when Ollie McDonnell's powerful shot which left Colm Nally grasping at thin air crashed back off the crossbar. When the Joes hit two points to lead 0-14 to 0-12 with seven minutes left, the Blues grip on Joe Ward looked anything but firm but Carr's points in the 56th and 57th minutes earned them a rematch, even though McDonnell hit the woodwork again in the dying seconds. An escape. Newtown Blues 2-21 St Josephs 3-13 (after extra time) The replay was an absolute classic . . . without doubt the Game of the Year in the Wee County. This was the match in which the Blues really proved that they bore the mark of champions as the Joes asked every conceivable question of them and they came up with all the answers. The only flaw in their performance was their first-half shooting. They kicked a total of ten wides in that period and, despite dominating, only led by 0-7 to 1-2 at the interval. Two inspirational Ollie McDonnell goals at the start of the second half turned the game around but Colin Kelly - returning from injury - was very much to the fore in helping the Blues to a three-point lead with five minutes left. Three late McDonnell points forced two extra periods during which the Blues were much stronger and went on to record a five-point success. The Blues had a virtual monopoly on possession in the first half but couldn't translate that superiority onto the scoreboard and were caught by a goal against the run of play in the 26th minute which levelled matters at 0-5 to 1-2. Points from Ronan Phillips and Kelly gave them a narrow interval lead. Within minutes of the restart McDonnell's two net-bulgers put the Blues four points ahead, 3-2 to 0-7, and the Blues were facing a searching examination of their credentials. They passed the test. Colin Kierans and Keith Lynch pulled a couple of points back before - in the 48th minute - the Blues went back in front when Kelly gathered possession from Anthony Donaghy to blast an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net. The Joes equalised within a minute; the Blues hit three on the trot; McDonnell did likewise to force added time, 1-12 to 3-6. Even though their opponents made a better start to extra time, the Blues achieved parity at 1-15 to 3-9 courtesy of points from Jamie Carr, Thomas Carr and Kierans. Paul Kelly edged them in front and Paddy Stone then hit the underside of the crossbar. The reprieve for the Joes was only of a temporary nature, however, as Stone fisted to the net almost immediately and Anthony Donaghy's three subsequent points were instrumental in booking the Blues' passage to the semi-final. Semi-final Newtown Blues 0-13 Cooley Kickhams 1-8 The platform for the semi-final defeat of Cooley was laid early on as the Blues were quickest out of the blocks at Haggardstown on Sunday August 26th. They led by eight points at half time and by nine early in the second half and held on despite a spirited rally from the peninsula side. A massive crowd flocked to McGeough Park and most would have been surprised to see the winners take a 0-9 to 0-1 lead into the interval. They got off to a perfect start with two points from Colin Kelly in the opening minute and Kickhams registered their only score of the half from a free five minutes later. In contrast, the Blues had their shooting boots on and Kelly (3), Thomas Carr and Ronan Phillips were on hand to increase the advantage to 0-7 to 0-1 by the 23rd minute. Carr and Kelly added to the tally before the interlude and it looked as if a rout was on the cards. Points from the excellent Raymond Hughes and a Kelly free put clear daylight between the teams at the two-thirds stage, 0-11 to 0-2. Sean O'Neill's 40th minute goal for Cooley sparked a decent fightback and had the green and golds not then had a second major harshly disallowed for a 'square ball', who knows what might have happened. But this was destined to be Newtown Blues' championship and key points from Kelly (47) and Anthony Donaghy (51) assured them of victory and a place in the final. Newtown Blues, 2001 Louth Senior Football Champions: Colm Nally; Stephen Delehan, Breen Phillips, Jamie Carr; Simon Gerrard, Damien Martin, Raymond Hughes (0-2); Eoghan Judge, Keith Lynch (0-2); Thomas Carr (0-1), Ronan Phillips (0-1), Paul Kelly (0-1); Colin Kierans, Colin Kelly (0-6), Martin Phillips. Subs: Paddy Stone, Anthony Donaghy (1-0), David McDonnell. Tweet

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