Gabrielle Clarke from St. Mary's club in Ardee was unanimously elected as Chairperson to succeed outgoing Chairperson Tony Reynolds on Sunday 16th January 2005. Gabrielle was Assistant Chairperson for the previous year and received nominations from all clubs in the County. This appointment was testament to the hard work and commitment that Gabrielle has shown to the game, not only with her own club, St. Mary's, but also with the county teams, both at Senior and Underage levels. The following officers were also elected to the County Board in 2005. Assistant Chairperson(s); Johann Fedigan (Hunterstown), Teresa Hanratty (Stabannon) Secretary : Eucharia Kirk (Naomh Malachi) Assistant Secretary: Anne Fedigan (Hunterstown) PRO: Teresa Hanratty (Stabannon) Registrar: Anne Fedigan (Hunterstown) Treasurer: Johann Fedigan (Hunterstown) Assistant Treasurer: Teresa Hanratty (Stabannon) Development Officer: Gabrielle Clarke (St. Marys) A new Fixtures Committee was set up this year and includes the following members : Sandra Callan (Naomh Martins), Johann Fedigan (St Kevins), Thomasina Connolly (Dowadshill), Mary Kearney, Peter Sweeney ( Stabannon) Louth Ladies, captained by Sharon Drumgoole, opened their league campaign by playing Dublin in February 2005. Unfortunately this was an occasion which Sharon and her fellow players would like to forget as Louth lost by 3-6 to 0-3. Scores on the day came from Anne Marie Murphy. This was followed by defeats to Tyrone and Meath in the League. Despite the defeats in the League, Louth Ladies regrouped and looked to the Championship and to their first meeting with Longford. Louth needed to make an impression in this game following a poor performance in the Division 1 League. Louth captained by Sharon Drumgoole had an overall poor performance in the first half only registering two points in the half to Longford's 1-09. However Louth came out strong in the second half and scored a total of 2-7 in the second half to Longford's 2-1. It would have been a different game had Louth clocked up some scores in the first half, the gap at the interval proving too large for the wee County. Scorers: Ann Marie Murphy 1-3, Nuala White 0-1, Roisin Hanlon 1-2, Sandra Lynch 0-1, Lynn Savage 0-1 This defeat hit the team and management hard and shortly afterwards Louth pulled out of the Senior Championship. Changes to the management structure also took place as David Fedigan resigned as County Manager. Following a review of the situation at County Board Level, it was decided that the county should enter a team in the Intermediate Championship. Louth played Roscommon in this match and were unlucky to be beaten by two points as the game finished Louth 2-7 to Roscommon 1-12. However despite the poor performance in 2005, the Louth camp remains optimistic as they move into 2006 and with plenty of new talent emerging from the underage ranks, 2006 should be more successful for the girls from the Wee County. However despite the poor performance of the Louth Senior team in 2005, it was not all doom and gloom for the County. Louth U14's won the Leinster B Final by beating Longford by two points. This team was captained by Aoife Byrne from St. Vincents and managed by Gerry Callan from Naomh Martins and Peter McArdle from Roche Ladies GFC. Aoife and her team mates then went on to play in the Leinster A competition and faced Laois in the quarter final. Louth won this game by four points and went on to meet Dublin in the semi final. Louth were unlucky not to have won this game and were beaten only by two points. The performance by this team in 2005 was outstanding. All year round it was a great team performance by all the players and the team and their mentors. They did the Wee County proud and the performance of this team can only be built on to bring them forward over the coming years and to make them the stars of Ladies football in Louth. Tweet

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