Dundalk Young Irelands had old heads on their collective shoulders in 2007 as the Wee County's oldest club rediscovered the sort of form for which they are traditionally renowned. They made light of the new, more difficult JFC format to capture the Christy Bellew Cup and also reached the minor championship final for the first time ever. Throw in a photo finish for the Division Three league title and it was a fantastic year all round for the Upper Marshes men. What an extraordinary year it was for Dundalk Young Irelands! The Green & Blacks had been struggling since claiming their eleventh SFC in 1979 and missed a great opportunity when losing a 2006 JFC semi-final to St Kevins. Recent history had been such that they approached the new year with no more than cautious optimism, but this time - even with an increased field in the junior knockout - Louth's first-ever GAA club came up trumps by winning the 2007 county junior championship. With many of the same players on board, Young Irelands also reached the minor decider for the first time, only to be pipped on county final day by Geraldines. Club and county minor Derek Maguire finished the year as top scorer in the JFC and his father Kieran had the double distinction of leading DYI to the Louth MFC final and Louth to the Leinster MFC semi-final. Furthermore, Dundalk Young Irelands also pressed hard all year for Division Three league honours, only to be squeezed out right at the end by a combination of St Mochtas and Naomh Fionnbarra. All in all, though, an incredible year! It's difficult to know just where to begin with a worthy reflection that does justice to the efforts of all who have helped Louth's oldest club turn the corner in such style. The 2007 Louth JFC final was played at Clan Na Gael Park on Sunday October 14 2007 and Dundalk Young Irelands overcame recent disappointments to defeat St Mochtas by 1-7 to 0-7. The Louth village side had prevailed when the teams met earlier in the group stage of the competition but this time the suitably youthful Young Irelands brigade turned in a big display when it mattered most. They simply weren't going to let this opportunity pass them by and intermediate football in 2008 is a fitting reward for their season's efforts. Immediately after the final whistle, jubilant captain Aaron Rogers wasted no time in dedicating the victory to Mr Dundalk Young Irelands, Fr John Mulligan, who links back to the club's famous past in the Marist College (where they spent almost 30 years before opening a new home at Pairc Eire Og in 1989). Club members will not be oblivious to the fact that Dundalk Young Irelands followed up their last JFC success (in 1977) with a senior crown two year later. While such a scenario is extremely unlikely this time around, the Upper Marshes outfit do have a calibre of young player that's capable of making quite an impression in the IFC. The first quarter of the '07 JFC final was a non-event for the eventual winners, who trailed by 0-4 to no score after 17 minutes. However, Irelands then got to grips with the occasion and held their opponents scoreless until six minutes from the end of normal time. The champions rang the changes to get on course and it was substitute Conor Nixon's 48th-minute goal - within seconds of his introduction - that turned the tide irrevocably in their favour. With Graham Carr outstanding at full back and the players called into the action from the bench making a major impact, Dundalk Young Irelands led by 1-5 to 0-4 after 54 minutes and held out comfortably for a meritorious success. There was little to suggest the glory that was to come as the champions-elect floundered in the opening stages but they eventually got their game plan and personnel right and were clearly the better team in the second period. All three subs used got on the scoresheet (1-4 between them) and in typical Irelands fashion, the Nixon name was prominent as they charged to the winners' podium. St Mochtas went in as slight favourites and, having won the competition as recently as 2004, they were expected to repeat their group-stage win over DYI. Carr and 'keeper Craig McKenna (who played outfield on the minor team) kept the underdogs in it early on with superb defensive play. Mochtas had points in the second, eighth, 13th and 17th minutes to soar clear and a full eleven minutes had elapsed before the nervous winners mustered their first shot in anger. Irelands finally opened their account from a David Bailey free after the blistering Mark Savage had been felled in the 18th minute. Substitute Ciaran Conlon (son of manager Pat Conlon, and a recent transfer from Silverbridge in Armagh) kicked two more frees and the gap was down to just the minimum at the interval, 0-4 to 0-3. Considering that they had failed to raise a flag from open play, Young Irelands were delighted to be within striking distance at this juncture. The second half was exceptionally scrappy. Conlon struck an upright before Sean Rafferty found the leveller a full eleven minutes after the turnaround. Twelve minutes from time, Nixon fired the winners' fifth consecutive score and this one would prove decisive. Fresh from the bench, he gathered possession from Ryan Moran to drive the ball home, despite the efforts of Mochtas goalie Conor Ryan, who got a slight touch. The championship's top scorer Derek Maguire tagged on an insurance point from a free and Irelands had four points to spare, 1-5 to 0-4, with only eight minutes on the clock. Though Mochtas momentarily closed the gap to three, Conor Nixon and Joey Hoey were on hand to pop over the late points that provided a five-point cushion and ensured that Dundalk Young Irelands would be crowned 2007 Louth junior football champions. With the issue no longer in doubt, the losers landed two consolation points in stoppage time. Thus, the county's oldest club has escaped the basement grade for the first time since 2001. Young Irelands were actually senior in 1999 but slipped in successive years to take their place in the junior championship. Can they now reverse that sequence and gain promotion in consecutive campaigns? The Mochtas had probably just about been the form team en route to the '07 JFC decider, dropping only three points along the way and topping a group that also contained Dundalk Young Irelands to progress directly to the semis. But the would-be winners dropped only four points themselves and had a semi-final win over the once-mighty Stabannon Parnells, so they too had served notice. In their first Group A outing, Dundalk Young Irelands defeated St Nicholas by 1-12 to 2-5. Their championship aspirations were rattled by successive defeats to St Mochtas (1-10 to 0-10) and Dowdallshill (2-7 to 1-8), but the Marshes lads forced their way out of the section with excellent back-to-back wins over Glen Emmets and Naomh Fionnbarra, winning by seven and six points respectively. Displaying a superb never-say-die spirit, Irelands won both their quarter-final and semi-final assignments by a single point. In the 'last eight', they pipped Westerns by 2-9 to 1-11; Stabannon stood in the way at the penultimate stage but DYI's indomitable spirit was again in evidence as they forced a magnificent 0-11 to 0-10 victory. It was also a stunning year for the Dundalk Young Irelands minors, who qualified for the county MFC final for the first time in the club's illustrious history. With county men Peter Flynn, Peter Nixon and Derek Maguire on top form and a number of club juniors on the starting XV, they breezed into the decider with a five-point semi-final victory over St Josephs. Unfortunately, Geraldines proved too strong on county final day at Dowdallshill on Sunday September 23 - but what progress this young side had made since winning the minor 'B' championship! The club's relentless quest for silverware continued practically all year in the all-county Division Three league. Once more, they were edged out but only after a sterling effort and some superb football over the course of the season. With one game remaining at the time of writing, Irelands were four points behind St Mochtas and two adrift of Naomh Fionnbarra at the head of the Div.3 table. Ultimately, though there would be no double or treble, they got the one they wanted most and everybody who was associated with Dundalk Young Irelands in 2007 can look back on the year with a tremendous degree of personal and collective satisfaction. Dundalk Young Irelands, 2007 Louth JFC winners: Craig McKenna; Shane O'Connell, Graham Carr, Simon Flynn; Peter Nixon, Aaron Rogers, Peter Flynn; Andrew Nixon, Gerard Nixon; Sean Rafferty (0-1), John McArdle, Ryan Moran; David Bailey (0-1), Derek Maguire (0-1), Mark Savage. Subs: Ciaran Conlon (0-2), Conor Nixon (1-1), Joe Hoey (0-1). Tweet

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