Two-thousand-and-four was a memorable year for St Mochtas, who made an instant return to intermediate ranks by capturing the county junior football championship. The Louth village men made the most of their brief stay in the bottom grade, availing of the opportunity to regroup and take stock of things. The Mochtas rediscovered their spirit in '04 and, ironically, their flirtation with junior football has probably done them more good than harm. What a difference a year can make in gaelic football! No club in the Wee County was more deflated than St Mochtas at the end of the 2003 season. Roll on twelve months and the Louth crew are on Cloud Nine, having scooped the 2004 Louth JFC, in the process bridging a nine-year gap and earning an immediate return to intermediate football. After a rousing end-of-season rally had almost saved them in '03 (when they made a disastrous start but almost pulled off a recovery that Lazarus would've been proud of), the villagers surrendered their intermediate status when losing a relegation play-off to Na Piarsaigh. Slipping back to junior grade was a sickening blow and the Mochtas were understandably crestfallen. Indeed, that's putting it mildly. As the new campaign got underway and St Mochtas prepared to participate in the 2004 Louth junior football championship (and Division Three of the all-county league), they had two choices: they could either sit around feeling sorry for themselves or they could do something positive about the situation. Manfully, they chose the latter option. Spurred on by inspirational 26-year-old player-manager Colin Hoey, the Mochtas took the proverbial bull by the horns, storming to outright victory in the 2004 junior football championship. They certainly didn't have an easy ride in the competition, but refused to accept defeat as an option and eventually came out on top at the end of five tough matches. The thrilling 2-14 to 2-10 county final defeat of Glen Emmets at Ardee's Pairc Mhuire on Sunday September 5 typified a team that has been born again. Also runners-up in Division Three, they would add a second trophy later in the year, claiming the Kevin Mullen Shield with a 0-8 to 0-7 defeat of St. Kevins in the final on Sunday October 31. The 2004 Louth JFC decider was a magnificent contest. St Mochtas and Glen Emmets had been the two outstanding teams in junior football all year, in league and championship. The Tullyallen men qualified for the final with a 100% record, while the Louth village club emerged from a more difficult group before seeing off a gritty John Mitchells challenge in a replayed semi-final. At the time of the final, they were first and second in Division Three. And, while Emmets boasted a perfect championship record, Mochtas were unbeaten in either league or championship. The stage was set for an epic final and, for once, the occasion lived up to its billing. The Mochtas secured victory in the most dramatic of circumstances. At the end of six pulsating minutes of injury time, the winners were four points to the good, 2-14 to 2-10, having trailed by two points with only three minutes remaining. In the face of a ten-minute Glen Emmets onslaught, St Mochtas had appeared destined for defeat before a determined late scoring burst of 1-3 gave the Yellow & Blue the victory their efforts richly deserved. It was an emphatic reaction to the heartache of relegation. Though the entire team contributed to a great win, special mention must go to captain Gervaise Marron and youthful player-manager Colin Hoey, who led by example not just in the final but throughout the year. Hoey, for example, was Man of the Match and Top Scorer (with a return of 1-7) in the final. He was also the top scorer in the 2004 junior championship, showing unerring accuracy from frees and calm assurance in open play. St Mochtas led by three points with 13 minutes remaining but Glen Emmets chipped back two points before firing a 57th-minute goal to steal two points ahead, 2-10 to 1-11. To the spellbound attendance at Ardee's Pairc Mhuire, it looked as though the Tullyallen men were on the brink of a famous win. However, the gutsy Mochtas had other ideas. They hadn't raised a flag for twelve minutes but, suddenly, the villagers rediscovered their scoring boots. Substitute Liam Byrne settled them with a fine solo effort before captain Gervaise Marron pointed from a sideline ball in the last minute of normal time. Amazingly, Hoey swung over the lead point from a close-range free and Liam McGranaghan followed up with the killer goal. The referee played five further minutes of additional time, but these yielded no more scores. The Mochtas had booked an instant return to the middle grade - and they had done it in style. Glen Emmets made a better start in the final, hitting two points in as many minutes courtesy of Keith Lynch and Joey Carolan. Nicholas Browne opened the Mochtas account on four minutes and centre forward Hoey landed a 35-metre free two minutes later. Emmets regained their two-point advantage with scores from David Bracken and Carolan. Ken Meegan grabbed Mochtas' next point but the winners trailed by 0-6 to 0-3 following two good points from county senior Bracken. However, the Louth village representatives came into the game in a big way during the second quarter. Hoey (2), Marron and Browne pointed to give Mochtas the lead for the first time after 20 minutes. McGranaghan added another point and Hoey produced a tremendous finish for the first goal of the game. Though the winners now led by five, Glen Emmets reduced the deficit to two with a quick Lynch goal. There was still time for Hoey and Lynch to swap points, leaving St Mochtas 1-9 to 1-7 to the good at the interval. There were only three scores in the third quarter and they all came from frees - one from Bracken and two from Hoey. St Mochtas led by 1-11 to 1-8. And so to the dramatic finale when saw Glen Emmets test St Mochtas' metal to the max … but the Louth village side passed the test with flying colours (just as they had done all year) to capture the Louth JFC for the first time since 1995. After the final whistle, the player-manager conceded: "I thought we were dead and buried but the lads showed great spirit to come back in the last five minutes. I was sure we were gone but the lads battled back and I'm proud of every one of them." Goalscoring wing forward McGranaghan added: "We were gutted last year when we were relegated so the whole year the first objective has been to get back up to intermediate. It feels brilliant to be going back up, especially through the championship." St Mochtas had to win the Christy Bellew Cup the hard way. All their games were close (apart from the semi-final replay) and they were asked to demonstrate a great deal of resolve over the course of their glorious championship odyssey. They were drawn in the dreaded three-team group - Group B - from which only one team would progress to the knockout stage. Qualifying from the group was a tall order, as the other two teams in the section, St Kevins and Annaghminnon Rovers, had strong credentials. And so it came to pass: St Mochtas opened their account with a hard-earned draw against Annaghminnon Rovers, 0-16 to 1-13 at Knockbridge on June 18. Indeed, they only got a share of the spoils thanks to a Martin McGahon point deep into injury time, after playing catch-up for practically the entire match. When St Kevins defeated Annaghminnon comprehensively in the second round, it meant that Mochtas' clash with the Philipstown men was of the winner-takes-all variety. In true fighting spirit, St Mochtas rose to the occasion and recorded a great four-point victory, 1-15 to 1-11, at Dowdallshill on July 16. This was a tremendous team performance from the Louth village crew, who had eight different scorers over the course of the hour - Colin Hoey, Liam McGranaghan, Garry Connolly, Keith Byrne, Nicholas Browne, Liam Byrne, Patrick Faul and Paul Marron. Having seen off the Kevins, St Mochtas faced Group A runners-up John Mitchells for a place in the final. The Ballybailie side had lost their group decider to Tullyallen by the narrowest of margins and would provide stern opposition. The semi-final went to a replay before St Mochtas eventually overwhelmed the Mitchells by 2-9 to 0-5 at Knockbridge on Sunday August 22. Eight days earlier, Colin Hoey's free five minutes into injury time had thrown the would-be 2004 Louth junior champions a lifeline, the drawn game finishing 1-7 apiece at the same venue. It was a second chance that would be grasped gratefully with both hands… St Mochtas, 2004 Louth junior football champions: Conor Ryan; Paul McGahon, Barry Cassidy, Declan Butler; Paul Marron, Gervaise Marron (0-2), Niall Murphy; Martin McGahon, Peter Lawless; Liam McGranaghan (1-1), Colin Hoey (1-7), Keith Byrne; Kenneth Meegan (0-1), Nicholas Browne (0-2), Glen O'Reilly. Subs: Eoghan Duffy, Liam Byrne (0-1), Gareth O'Reilly, Patrick Ford. Tweet

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