Newtown Blues had realistic prospects of winning the 2006 Louth SFC. The Drogheda giants were installed as favourites before a ball was kicked but never quite justified that tag, stumbling through to the last four before surprisingly coming a cropper in a semi-final replay against the Joes. Even though the Blues never hit full stride in the premier competition, there were many positives to be taken from the year, including the superb form of ace attacker Hugh McGinn, who had an outstanding year with both club and county. Each year since they last scooped the Joe Ward Cup (in 2001), Newtown Blues have been amongst the leading contenders for the Louth senior football championship. It was the same again in '06 and the Newfoundwell men emerged from their group unbeaten to take their customary place in the knockouts. They had a scare against Naomh Mairtin before progressing to the semi-final stage after a replay and it looked to all the world as though the most famous GAA club in Drogheda would now show their true worth. Disappointingly, however, even though the Dromiskin men let them off the hook the first day, Colm Nally's charges succumbed after a replay and yet another year passed without so much as a county final appearance for the 17-times champions. It's been a frustrating time since back-to-back titles were culled in 2000/01 but there are encouraging signs that the sky blue raiders could be set to reign once more: to complement a rich tradition, they have an abundance of stellar young talent at their disposal and they showed by winning the 2005 Cardinal O'Donnell Cup that they are well able to compete with the best of the rest in the Wee County. It's really just a matter of producing their best form on championship day; when they click, the Blues are going to take a hell of a lot of stopping! Two-thousand-and-six was an unbelievably busy year for Hugh McGinn, who was on the Louth panel that claimed national football league Division Two and Tommy Murphy Cup glory and also lined out for the county U21s as well as featuring prominently in the Newtown Blues attack. There was basically no let-up in the football for twelve months as two seasons blended into one another, and the ridiculously gifted Blues prodigy enjoyed his football immensely. "It was great to be involved with the county team and to be in there with players like Paddy Keenan, Aaron Hoey and Mark Stanfield, who I admire greatly. We showed in Croke Park at the end of the year that we're still able to perform there after the Meath game. The Tommy Murphy Cup may not be a major competition but the manager was up for it and so were the players. Eamonn has great drive and the players responded well to him." Hugh had been on the senior county panel the previous year under Val Andrews but, as an 18-year-old, understandably failed to make much impact. He made his championship debut in '06 when appearing as a substitute for the last three minutes of that ill-fated Leinster championship clash with neighbours Meath and is certainly a player we'll be seeing a lot more of in the red jersey. As Hugh only turns 21 in March 2007, time is very much on his side. In '06 he was content just to be involved and to learn as much as he possibly could from the more experienced lads on the county panel. The U21s also did well, as he explains: "We were a ball's kick away from beating Laois, who went on to win Leinster." After returning to the gym two or three nights a week by September, Hugh is hoping to push for a starting place next term: "I need to build up a bit more strength in my legs and to get stronger and faster," he reveals. "We're all having individual programmes set out for us and I'm looking forward to getting started on that and pushing for a place in the team. "We'll be meeting bigger teams in Division One and Eamonn wants us to make the Top Six. It's good to see Louth back in the top division but we're still very disappointed about what happened in the Meath game, especially after everything had gone so well in the first half. We still want to go out and prove that we're a much better side than we showed that day." At club level, the Blues went into the 2006 SFC full of confidence and fancied by many after their recent underage exploits and their '05 Division One win. They opened their Group C account with a 0-15 to 2-8 victory over St Marys at Collon, and the concession of two more goals cost them a point against the Clans in the next round (0-12 to 2-6). An emphatic 1-18 to 1-7 victory over Roche Emmets confirmed passage to the quarter-finals, where the competition begins in earnest. The Blues fought back from behind twice to overcome Naomh Mairtin by a point after a replay. The original fixture ended in a 0-12 apiece stalemate at the county grounds on Friday July 28 but seven Hugh McGinn points earned a 0-10 to 0-9 win at Drogheda three weeks later, on Saturday August 19. After a 0-9 to 1-6 draw, the Blues faced St Josephs in a SFC semi-final replay at Dunleer on Saturday September 16. Three early goals gave them a decent 3-5 to 0-9 interval cushion but they were unable to hold on and fell to a bitterly disappointing 2-15 to 3-9 defeat. Thus, the favourites exited the premier competition. Despite playing seven times in the SFC, they had failed to reach the final. To say that they were disappointed would be an understatement. "We're a major club and we expect to be contesting the final," Hugh points out. "With the young players we have, we should be doing that in the next couple of years. Being installed as favourites put us under pressure to perform and I don't think we got going at all, apart from the Marys game. We threw a point away against the Clans and that was the first sign of things going wrong. "Even at the group stage, we were struggling to put teams away. We never got going and that continued in all the games. Only two or three lads played well against the Joes; you need at least ten lads on top form on the day and you have to play as a team. We seemed to be playing as individuals and we just let teams back into it. "When we pulled back against the Mairtins and got through those two games, we thought we would learn from the scare and would really get going, but the Joes were more up for it than we were. We were upset when Jamie [Carr] was told the Friday night before the game that he wasn't allowed to play, because he is a great footballer and we knew he'd be a loss. We just never got into the fluent style of football we know the Blues can play." Why are the Blues failing to play to their full potential in the championship? We all know they're under huge pressure to perform, but are there any other factors involved? "It's hard to know. Some of the younger lads who were outstanding at minor and U21 level probably need to build up a bit more strength. They need more determination and time to adapt senior football. We can all learn a lot from the older lads in the team and from the management. "The average age is around 23/24 - we're still a very young side and we proved that we can beat the best teams in the county by winning a minor and back-to-back U21 championships. We've always had great support and I think we're getting closer to a championship-winning team. There's great coaching taking place in the Blues, right down to the youngest level, with hundreds of young lads down there on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it's great to see. "But the burning desire is to win a senior championship. My dad [Hugh Snr] has four in his pocket and he's always reminding me that I haven't got one yet. I tell him that he has no minor or U21 medals but that's not going to keep him quiet for much longer!" The target for 2007? "It's always the Joe Ward Cup for the Blues and we'll want it even more. A lot of older fellas in the club are giving out about the current team and they expect nothing less than a senior championship. It's a big club and we have to deliver the big trophies. With Simon [Gerrard] and Jamie [Carr] back and everyone 100% fit, we'll take a lot of stopping. "Sooner or later, things are going to click for the Blues and we're put in some huge performances. In the meantime, maybe we just need to show other teams a bit more respect. Other teams always have a gameplan to stop our dangermen, whereas we're confident that we can go out and beat anybody just by playing our brand of football. "We've always been a pure football club and pride ourselves on playing quality football. Other teams work out ways to stop us. Perhaps we should be looking at something similar - how to stop the likes of Darren Clarke from scoring 2-5 against us. If we play as a team, I've no doubt we can win the championship." Pipped again Once more, Newtown Blues came close in the race for the Joe Ward Cup. In 2006, the Drogheda giants progressed as far as the semi-final stage only to lose to St Josephs after a replay. Thus, though they failed in their bid for back-to-back county final appearances, the Blues proved that they are still perennial SFC contenders. It was Colm Nally's third year at the helm and the player-manager was disappointed that Joe proved elusive yet again… Having contested the county final and captured the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup in 2005, Newtown Blues went into the '06 season full of confidence. Goalkeeper/manager/trainer Colm Nally was convinced that the Newfoundwell men had what it takes to reclaim the Ward Cup for the first time since 2001 but, alas, the Blues never really had their full team available and therefore didn't demonstrate their true capabilities. Even without firing on all cylinders, the Wee County's most famous club still progressed to the last four of the senior championship and only succumbed to an inspired Joes outfit therein after a replay. It was a familiar story: close but not quite close enough. Having captained the Blues to their most recent SFC successes in 2000 and 2001, Colm Nally was hoping to mark his third and final term as player-manager by reclaiming the 'big one'. And the Dublin-born former Louth captain is quick to point out that it wasn't for want of trying that the dream unravelled: "We put in a massive effort because we felt we were very close in 2005 [when the Blues were edged out by Mattock in the decider]. We thought we had a team that could win the championship and that's exactly what we set out to achieve. There was no stone left unturned and we gave it our best shot." Five seasons have now elapsed since Newtown Blues completed the back-to-back in '01. But they've been in the shake-up these past two years in particular and showed their mettle by clinching the Division One league in '05. Colm reckons the team that's currently taking shape can capture top honours sooner rather than later: "The basis of this present team has been together for three years and the Blues would be a match for any team in Louth if we had our strongest fifteen available. We've had a steady influx of minors coming through as well and this was the year when we hoped it would click into place. There's a good mix of youth and experience, with a few lads in their early 30s, and we thought that with everybody together we could win the senior championship…" Lacking big-name players practically all year, the Blues never really got into their stride. Would it be fair to say they struggled to find their form throughout the championship - even in the group stage and the two quarter-final clashes with Naomh Mairtin? "You can't really take away from the teams who did well against us - the Clans, the Mairtins and the Joes. Having said that, with a bit of luck, those results could have been different," Colm insists. "We drew with the Clans but we hit the crossbar and the post and they got 1-1 right at the end. We actually played well. We never had our best team and you really miss lads like Simon Gerrard, Jamie Carr and Colm Judge. Those are three excellent footballers and any club would miss talent like that. It's easy to make excuses but we really didn't have any luck all year, we never got our strongest starting team out and, as I said, we were coming up against good sides as well…" The structure of club football in the county in '06 did little to help, as it was a 'limbo' year in many respects (with restructuring imminent). "The leagues were a real disappointment," says Colm. "There was little or no competition. Teams in 1A had little to play for and didn't seem to care. The Joes got to rest their older players and kept them fresh for the championship. In 1B, with five going down, they had competitive games every week but we certainly didn't have the cut and thrust that's normally associated with the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup. "We had won the Cardinal O'Donnell for the first time in 20 years in 2005, but the 2006 competition was a real disappointment…" Things are expected to improve next year, though, when the new system kicks in. However, the Blues 'keeper isn't convinced. "I don't think it will get better and I'm totally opposed to having a meaningless league," he says. "I'd agree with Sean Boylan in Meath, who said that too many competitive club games take their toll on players. It hasn't worked in Meath where there's too much emphasis on the championship. "We'll have a league that counts for nothing and additional competitive games in the championship. For a club like the Blues who should have two or three players with the county senior team and maybe six or seven with the U21s, I think it'll create huge pressure. I'd much prefer to see fewer club championship games and a league with promotion and relegation." As manager of the Blues in '06, Colm was assisted by selectors Shane Nugent, Peter Judge and Damien Martin. The squad got together initially on January 4 and they put in a solid eight-ten weeks of pre-season. "After that it was all too stop-start and we never got a proper run of games," the former Louth custodian continues. "There was a time in the summer where we had seven weeks without a game. "We had to go and play against teams like St Vincents and Ballymun in challenges and we lost two key men to injury in a challenge game against Eire Og. You can't beat proper competitive games and a club like Newtown Blues shouldn't have to go outside the county looking for matches in the middle of the summer…" Despite the obvious disappointment of five years without a SFC, Colm Nally remains adamant that Newtown Blues have what it takes to deliver the goods: "I'm convinced that the Blues are more than good enough to win the championship," he stresses. "With all due respect, any team that can field without Hugh McGinn, Jamie Carr - who was effectively cup-tied - and Simon Gerrard for a senior semi-final and still draw has done well. "Those are three of the best footballers in the county and Eamonn McEneaney went on record saying that he really missed Simon all year. Considering the problems we had, I thought we did well to get where we did and the Blues will improve immensely when everyone is available. "The younger lads have two or three years of senior football under their belts now and things will get a lot better for the Blues if everybody is available in 2007. Hugh McGinn was the top scorer from play in the championship this year and is a super talent. Young players like Hugh are only going to get better and they will win senior championships. "They have won an adult competition in the Cardinal O'Donnell and they have lost narrowly in a senior championship final and semi-final. So this team already has great experience. They have experienced the highest level of competitive matches in Louth and they know what it takes to win a senior championship." Tweet

Most Read Stories