It was a magnificent year for St Patricks as the Lordship men returned from two years in the championship wilderness to reclaim the Joe Ward Cup. With three SFCs annexed inside five years, the Pats are very much the team of the moment in the Wee County. In many ways, the 2007 success was the sweetest yet. It certainly wasn't a major surprise when St Patricks captured the 2007 Louth senior football championship. After all, Joe Ward had wintered in Lordship in both 2003 and 2004 and the pedigree of this particular crop of players was never in question. However, there was still a strong sense of vindication in the Dowdallshill air in mid-September '07 as the Pats finished top of the pile for the third time in their history. Thing was, they had a point to prove (to themselves more than anybody). Having lost the 2006 decider to the Joes and having failed to build upon the successes of '03 and '04, the players had to show that their hunger and desire hadn't been eroded. (There was never any doubt about the inherent ability.) They were asked to demonstrate that there was still pride in donning the green jersey. The answer - when it came - was emphatic. Two-thousand-and-four manager Gerry Cumiskey was back at the helm and the boss proved his worth with a cunning positional masterstroke that was pivotal to the Pats' outright success. With fours games played in the championship, the canny tactician moved his goalkeeper Sean Connor to full forward for the final group game and the ploy worked a treat as the Wee County's second-choice custodian wreaked havoc on opposition defences, bagging 2-5 in two matches en route to the decider and creating countless scores for his team-mates. (His presence would also prove hugely significant in the county decider.) Elsewhere, Damien Connor, Karl White, [All Star nominee and captain] Paddy Keenan, Eamon Carroll and Ray Finnegan also contributed enormously on the scoreboard for the Pats, while the likes of Colin Goss, Owen Zamboglou, Liam Oliver, Dessie Finnegan and Paudie Mallon regularly produced performances above and beyond the call of duty. Simply, there were no weak links in the team. The Pats were very much the form side throughout the '07 senior championship. The competition had been touted as one of the most wide open in decades, with Cooley, Mattock, the Blues, the Brides, the Marys, the Mairtins and holder St Josephs all mentioned as genuine contenders from the off. However, once the winners-elect got their campaign up and running with yet another victory over their peninsula rivals, it became immediately apparent that they were the team to beat. The Lordship outfit ultimately captured their third Louth SFC title in five years with a three-point victory over local rivals Cooley Kickhams at St. Brigid's Park on Sunday September 23: 1-9 to 0-9. Karl White's seventh-minute penalty goal - after a foul on goalkeeper-turned-full-forward Sean Connor - set the Pats on their way as they repeated their 2004 final victory over the same opposition. That score gave the winners a 1-6 to 0-6 interval advantage and, with county men Ray Finnegan and Paddy Keenan influential, they held on in a tight second half to maintain their astonishing recent hoodoo over their clearest and most-pronounced rivals. Pats also beat Cooley in a three-game semi-final saga twelve months earlier and they opened their '07 championship account with yet another win over the men from Fr McEvoy Park, who must be sick of the sight of their neighbours by now. The Pats enjoyed a thoroughly-satisfying 0-11 to 0-7 victory over Cooley in Dowdallshill on Saturday April 21, with Paddy Keenan slotting over four points from midfield. They followed up with an almost identical victory over Sean O'Mahonys - 0-12 to 0-7 - and were the only team left in the competition with a 100% record after three rounds, as the beaten 2006 finalists made it three wins from three when they easily accounted for Naomh Malachi by 0-18 to 1-7 at Tallanstown on Sunday July 29. With six points on the board, the Lordship men could already think about the knockout stage, even if they still have tricky group games left against Glyde Rangers and Kilkerley Emmets. Though they only drew with Glyde in their fourth group outing (2-6 to 1-9), that result guaranteed St Patricks passage to the business end of the 2007 Louth SFC. But there was still one matter to be resolved - who would top the group and therefore advance directly to the semi-finals? The group had taken on a somewhat complicated look ahead of the last round but the Pats duly clarified things with a thumping 4-13 to 1-5 victory over Kilkerley. The field for the 2007 Louth SFC was now down to the last six, with the group stages completed and ten teams ruled out of contention. St Patricks and St Brides progressed directly to the semi-final stage by topping their respective groups, while Cooley Kickhams, Newtown Blues, Mattock Rangers and surprise packets Naomh Malachi advanced to the quarter-finals. Mattock pipped the Courtbane men in a closely-contested quarter-final to progress to a semi-final meeting with the Pats. This was a massive match as both sides had won two SFCs in the new millennium thus far: Pats in 2003 and 2004; Mattock in 2002 and 2005. The Pats affirmed superiority over the Collon men with a meritorious 2-12 to 1-10 win at Dowdallshill on Sunday September 9. Meanwhile, Cooley had toppled the Blues and the Brides to also book a place in a mouth-watering 2007 Louth SFC final. There was no doubting that these two teams deserved to be in the decider: the Pats had progressed undefeated, dropping just one point along the way, while Cooley had won all their matches after slipping to their arch rivals in the opener. Dowdallshill is the traditional venue for clashes of these two (even though the '04 final took place at Clan na Gael Park) and St Brigid's Park hosted the 2007 Louth SFC final as Gerry Cumiskey's charges stretched their sensational championship winning streak over Cooley to take the Ward Cup back to Pairc Eamoin once more. Some 5,000 spectators flocked to the 2007 county decider, generating record gate receipts of 43,000 euro for the County Board coffers. Symbolically, the match was played almost exactly 50 years to the day after Louth's famous 1957 All-Ireland SFC final defeat of Cork at Croke Park. By winning, the Pats emulated the great Clan na Gael side of the 1990s, who captured three Joe Wards during that decade. However, they still need to strike once in the next two seasons to match Stabannon's haul of four SFCs in the 'nineties. Ray Finnegan was an automatic choice as Man of the Match, putting in a simply awesome shift in the No.7 shirt. But the Pats had a whole panel of heroes on the penultimate Sunday of September 2007, none more so than goalkeeper Robbie Arthur, the young man who assumed the No.1 shirt with a minimum of fuss after Sean Connor was asked to play at the other end of the pitch. In the fourth minute of added time, with a goal between the teams, the 22-year-old netminder made a remarkable save to deny John Kane an equalising score. Arthur epitomises the depth of talent the Pats have at their disposal. He hadn't even played a championship match until the final group game against Kilkerley, yet he slipped effortlessly into the team for the final three games of a glorious campaign, allowing substitute county 'keeper Connor to create mayhem in and around the opposing square. How many other managers would have dared make a move like this? The truly impressive aspect of this outstanding St Patricks team is that they are mostly still in their early-to-mid twenties. Some of these lads seem to have been around forever but they're still ridiculously young. Paddy Keenan, for example, was 22 when he walked up the podium at St Brigid's Park to lift the Joe Ward Cup and pocket his third county SFC medal. How many more championships can this team go on to garner? Even though only the penalty goal separated the teams at the final whistle, St Patricks were undeniably the better team throughout the 2007 Louth senior decider, a match they led from the fifth minute to the final whistle. They demonstrated remarkable maturity and used all their experience as Cooley tried to get about them. Unruffled, they controlled most of the match and played the best football. Twice after White's penalty found the net, Cooley clawed back within two points, but that was as good as it got for Gary Thornton's men. White's precise strike to the top left hand corner was the defining moment of the '07 SFC final and it practically finished the game as a contest ,although we would witness almost a further hour of football. The winners were in the ascendancy throughout and managed to maintain a stranglehold on the game, even if Cooley did threaten to disrupt their superiority with a few near misses as they raided forward in search of a salvaging goal. Cooley had the first point after 20 seconds but Sean Connor levelled matters with a fourth-minute 45. On five minutes, White dissected the posts with a lovely right-footed finish from play, giving the Pats a lead they would never relinquish. Pats led by five when Dessie Finnegan added to White's penalty. Damien Connor (2) and Paddy Keenan closed the winners' first-half account but a run of three successive Cooley scores just before Connor popped over his side's second converted 45 ensured that it was still all to play for in the second period, with just the goal between them. Ray Finnegan landed the only score of the third quarter and Connor's second 45 of the match made it 1-8 to 0-6 after 46 minutes. Cooley rallied with three points between the 49th and 59th minutes and the Pats breathed a sigh of relief when Brian White uncharacteristically missed a close-range free in the third minute of added time. In a frantic finish, Connor pointed and Arthur saved as the Pats claimed a historic win. There was a goal in it at the final whistle. Was it the Karl White penalty? Was it the three 45s? Was it the switch involving Connor and Arthur? The return of 1-6 from the full forward line? Whatever way you choose to look at things, it was sheer class once more from the brilliant Pats. St Patricks - 2007 Louth senior football champions: Robert Arthur; Liam Oliver, Colin Goss, Jamie O'Hare; Damien White, Owen Zamboglou, Ray Finnegan (0-1); Paddy Keenan (0-1), Paudie Mallon; Shane Finnegan, Eamon Carroll, Dessie Finnegan (0-1); Damien Connor (0-3), Sean Connor (0-2), Karl White (1-1). Subs: Diarmuid MacArtain (26), Donal O'Connor (55), Diarmuid Murphy (59) Game keeper With St Patricks' 2007 senior championship destiny enshrouded in vague mists of doubt, manager Gerry Cumiskey turned to goalkeeper Sean Connor in search of some sublime intervention. When asked to take up a new commission on the edge of the square, Louth's then second-choice custodian answered the call gladly; his performances at full forward were instrumental in the Lordship club's third Joe Ward Cup heist. The switch of the year in Louth was that involving St Patricks goalkeeper Sean Connor - and what an unexpected turn of events it was! When the Pats captured their first ever SFC in 2003 and successfully retained the county title the following year, Connor was a rock of dependability between the posts. He was there again for the first four games of the 2007 championship - before wily supremo Gerry Cumiskey effected a cunning masterstroke. With qualification already assured, the Pats manager selected the final group outing against Kilkerley as the laboratory for his experiment. He asked the team's regular goalkeeper if he'd be prepared to try out at full forward and Sean Connor answered in the affirmative. He is a team player first and foremost, after all. The game wasn't exactly a non-event as the peninsula men had to win to top the group and assure qualification directly to the last four. Their tactics worked a treat and Connor wreaked chaos as they stormed to a walloping 4-13 to 1-5 victory. There was going to be no turning back from there. With new boy Robert Arthur coping admirably in goal and Connor terrorising defences like he'd been donning the 14 all his life, St Patricks went on to regain the county's blue riband prize with wins over Mattock Rangers and Cooley Kickhams - two of the Wee County's perceived 'Big Four'. Connor earned the seventh-minute penalty that proved decisive in the decider and also knocked over two 45s. All in all, it was a satisfactory year for the most conspicuous utility man by far in Louth football: "Getting beaten in the 2006 final was very hurtful and we were determined to come back from that. We said this year from the very start that it was definitely going to be our year and thankfully we did what had to be done. We had one or two close games along the way but we came through." The Pats were unbeaten at the end of the competition, dropping only a single point along the way. Does this make them deserving champions? "I think so. We did have one very close game against Glyde, which finished in a draw, but we weren't at full strength for that one and we got our act together for the next game and went out and beat Kilkerley by a a big score. We played a good game against Mattock in the semi-final and we didn't want to lose two finals in a row." With three county crowns in five years, the Pats have shown that they are the strongest force in Louth club football these days. Nobody can argue with their status as the best team in the Wee County. As the cliché-mongers might say if given free reign to scribble all over this here publication, the Pats have been there, done that and bought a tee-shirt or three. "We've been there for the last few years alright," Sean accepts. "We've been in four of the past five county finals and have won three senior championships in a short space of time, so we're doing well. We knew we'd be up there at the top again this year and that we were one of the best teams. But Cooley Kickhams, Newtown Blues and Mattock Rangers are good teams too, so we knew we'd have to earn it." And what of the positional switch? What was it like moving from goalkeeper to full forward, from shotstopper to scoregetter? "I always played outfield at underage and at the start of the year Gerry asked me what I'd think of it - but I shied away from it at the start of the year, so he didn't ask me again. He gave me a chance at midfield - where I play in training - but it didn't work. Then after the Glyde game he said I was starting at full forward against Kilkerley and I said I'd play anywhere and he stuck by me after that. I enjoyed it. It can be lonelier in goal. When you're outfield, you are more involved in things and you feel more like part of the team." How ironic it would be if the Pats man got the Louth No.14 shirt ahead of the No.1 one! He feels such a scenario is unlikely: "My aim is to play in goal for Louth, even though I would obviously play anywhere. There are plenty of good forwards in the county to keep the scores coming, so I'll be pushing for the goalkeeper's jersey." Without a senior county crown in their first 49 years, St Patricks have now enjoyed three stunning Louth SFC successes. How does the 2007 win compare to those of '03 and '04? "Personally, I thought it was nicer because I was outfield and was more involved in the play. I really wanted the new position to work well, but 2003 was great as well because it was our first and I was only a teenager at the time. "Everybody in the club knew we were good enough to win it again. We had the footballers and the management got it right and we had a really settled team for the last three games, which is always a help. We played at a good tempo and it was a great year all around." And how about a word for the beaten finalists? Is it possible for a Pats man to feel some sympathy for Cooley, who have been pipped at the post yet again? "Pats V Cooley is always a big game. It's a local derby and you go out to win. They are one of the strongest teams in the county and we have played them every year since 2003. You are prepared to play them every year because they'll be there or thereabouts. "Off the field we talk to each other and respect each other. There are seven of us on the county panel and six of them, so we have to respect each other and get along." Finally, what does the future hold for this St Patricks side? Is there enough hunger in the camp to go for another county title or two? "We have a very young team. Apart from two lads, everyone else is 27 or under, so we have a lot of very young talent and some more players coming through. I certainly think there are at least another couple of championships in this team if we get everybody playing well. There's no reason why we can't win two or three more." Tweet

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