The Pairc Eamoin revolution continues unabated - and what better way to celebrate your Golden Jubilee Year than by winning the Louth senior football championship for the first time! St Patricks famously worked the oracle in 2003 and Joe Ward is enjoying his first spell in Lordship as we speak. It's been coming a long time ... in 2003 it finally happened. And the Pats could hardly have chosen a more appropriate and poignant season to end their painstaking quest for Wee County football's equivalent to the Holy Grail. The Pats have been knocking so loudly on the door in recent years that many of those who follow gaelic games in Louth were diagnosed with perforated eardrums! In '03, however, guided by ubercoach Peter Fitzpatrick, the Lordship outfit decided upon a new approach. There would be no more knocking ... instead they simply kicked the door wide open to seize Louth's premier trophy and spark the mother and father of all parties in the peninsula. Never before in the history of Louth football has there been more reason for a club to celebrate: it was the Pats' 50th anniversary and they were officially the best team in the county. They also completed a glorious double when defeating Cooley in the final of the Junior 2A championship. AND, significantly, the Kickhams were also the beaten opposition in the semi-final of the SFC - a sweet, sweet victory for the Pats, even if there was an element of good fortune to it. The emergence of St Patricks as a genuine force to be reckoned with has been little short of spectacular. They contested their first ever senior championship final in 1995 but had to wait until '99 to capture their first senior trophy - the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup. All three senior County Board trophies have now been brought to Pairc Eamoin and the continuing success of the reserve team not to mention Valley Rangers' prominence at underage level indicates that the Pats are definitely here to stay. The 2003 SFC was garnered with a predominantly young side and one gets the distinct impression that, with the breakthrough now made, many more major successes could follow. Like I said, no Louth club has ever had greater cause for celebration/optimism. The date that will always be remembered in the history of St Patricks GFC is Saturday September 27th 2003. The Pats defeated [their 1995 conquerors] St Marys by 2-11 to 0-10 in a replayed county final to pluck Louth's blue riband prize for the first time. It was a fitting end to a magnificent SFC campaign that saw the Pairc Eamoin outfit emerge from the 'Group of Death' before seeing off the might of Stabannon Parnells and then Cooley Kickhams in the quarter-final and semi-final stage. In recent years, St Patricks had been the most consistent top-flight league side in the Wee County but had struggled to reproduce this form in the premier competition. Granted, they were regular participants in the business end of the senior championship but 'the Joe' had a knack of eluding them. But when Peter Fitzpatrick's meticulously-prepared charges overcame peninsula rivals Cooley in a low-scoring 'semi', they progressed to the county's showcase fixture for only the second time. And, once more, Ardee St Marys were in the opposite corner. Pats will be the first to admit that they were lucky to get out of jail the first day. St Marys were the better team and did enough to capture their eleventh SFC, but St Patricks got the rub of the green on the day and Shane Hynes' late goal earned them a second bite at the cherry. In the replay, the Pats made no mistake whatsoever, justifying their favouritism with a comfortable seven-point win. It's testimony to the Pats' awesome defence that they didn't concede a goal over the course of the two finals (scoring FIVE themselves) - this against a very highly-rated and dangerous Marys forward line. Indeed, they leaked only a solitary three-pointer in the knock-out phase ... but actually scored SEVEN themselves in that particular game. We'll come to that later . . . In any comprehensive review of St Patricks' amazing '03 odyssey, one simply must comment on the 'Goals For' and 'Goals Against' columns. If goalscoring was one of the outstanding characteristics of the 2003 Louth senior champions, their miserliness at the other end was equally impressive. In the knock-out stage of the competition (four games), the Pats rattled in 14 goals but surrendered only one. In Group B, Mattock were the only team to breach the Lordship defence but the Pats still beat the defending champions by 1-11 to 2-6. Pats found the net in all seven SFC games played - registering a tally of NINETEEN majors - but only two teams managed to score three-pointers against them. Incredible stuff! The 2003 Louth SFC final replay went ahead at St Brigid's Park, Dowdallshill on the last Saturday of September. Including the drawn game, this was the Pats' third attempt at winning the Joe Ward Cup and this time they made no mistake, reigning supreme with a superb 2-11 to 0-10 win. The winners led by two points at the interval and never looked over their shoulder thereafter, thanks largely to two second-half goals from Damien Connor. There were scenes of unrestrained jubilation at the north Louth venue when St Patricks captain Sean White was presented with the Joe Ward Cup. History had been made! Long-serving midfielder Jim Holland succinctly summed up the strong sense of accomplishment in the club with this memorable post-match comment: "This has been a long time coming after a long hard year. It is fifty years coming. This is not a 15-man effort - it's a community effort over the past fifty years." The appointment of Clans legend Peter Fitzpatrick as manager was a masterstroke. 'Fitzer' had seen and done it all with the Clans as a player and had brought Dromintee to the final of the Armagh SFC in 2002, only to be pipped by mighty Crossmaglen. The new manager was without doubt the catalyst that made it all happen for the Pats in 2003. Ardee sharpshooter Niall Sharkey started the replay as he had finished the first day with a point in the second minute, but the Pats had points from Ray Finnegan (3) and Damien Connor (2) to move 0-5 to 0-2 to the good after 20 minutes. However, the Deesiders fought back to draw level within five minutes and also spurned a decent goalscoring chance during that spell. This spurred the Pats to life: quick points from Darren Kirwan (29) and Man of the Match Paddy Keenan (31) - the latter score following tremendous direct play from full back Colin Goss - were sufficient to give them a 0-7 to 0-5 half-time lead. St Patricks made a determined start to the second half and hit three wides before Kirwan settled their nerves with a tidy score four minutes in. Further points from Kirwan and Keenan saw the Pats ease four points clear towards the end of the third quarter. Cometh the hour cometh the man: two goals in the space of six minutes from corner forward Damien Connor effectively ended the 2003 Louth SFC as a contest. On 45 minutes, he rifled low to the net after (not for the first time this year!) being unselfishly set up by the crafty Kirwan. There was an element of luck about the second goal on 51 minutes as Connor's 40-metre free slipped through the fingers of a Marys defender and across the line, but as Gary Player once famously quipped: "Funny that, the more I practice the luckier I get!" In between the goals, Sharkey pointed a free for the Ardee side but, with nine minutes left and the Pats leading by 2-10 to 0-7, it was all over bar the shouting. The Marys - managed by Jim Clifford, who led the Pats to the 1995 decider - struck three consolation points before county fledgling Keenan rounded off the scoring with a fine point in stoppage time. All 15 Pats players as well as subs, panellists, mentors and officials were heroes on the club's biggest day ever. Some, however, stood out that little bit more than others. At the rear, full back Colin Goss and centre half Paudie Mallon were simply outstanding. The Pats dominated midfield, where 18-year-old Paddy Keenan was a revelation, even finding time to send over three points from play. As ever, Jim Holland played his heart out in the engine-room, while Darren Kirwan, Eamonn Carroll, Damien Connor and Raymond Finnegan gave the opposition the run-around in the final third of the field. It had been oh so different in the drawn game when the Pats had to demonstrate another facet of their armoury - unbelievable resilience - to force the replay. The game finished: St Marys 0-16, St Patricks 3-7. Ardee were aided by a spectacular solo show from Niall Sharkey, who contributed twelve points, but the Pats refused to yield and kept their hopes alive with a trio of goals, two from green flag specialist Damien Connor and the other from substitute Shane Hynes late in the day. Pats made a rousing start and led by three points after three minutes, courtesy of Darren Kirwan (2) and Padraig Devane but the Marys were soon level. Connor's first goal was rather fortunate when the Marys keeper was adjudged to have gathered the ball behind his goal-line, but his second was a peach, set up instinctively by Kirwan. Pats now led by four and after the Marys pulled back a couple of points Kirwan closed the first-half scoring with the Lordship men three points to the good. Kirwan was also through for a goal chance in stoppage time but Ardee 'keeper Peter Duffy compensated for his earlier error with a fine block. Even though the Pats started the second half brightly, the Deesiders eventually took control of proceedings to storm four points clear after 55 minutes. Pats looked dead and buried until Ray Finnegan and Hynes interjected with a point and a goal respectively. They also survived a late scare when the full time whistle sounded with Sharkey's effort just about to dissect the posts... If that whole episode could be considered remarkable, it was nothing compared to the Pats' bizarre semi-final victory over peninsula neighbours Cooley Kickhams. For a long time the two north county giants seemed fated to lock horns in the 2003 SFC decider, but the most hyped county final of all time was averted when the peninsula rivals were instead pitted together for the penultimate round. Both teams carried outstanding form into the semi-final and an epic clash was anticipated (though it must be stressed YET AGAIN that the bad blood that reportedly exists between these two clubs is little more than media sensationalism ... there's a keen and healthy rivalry but that's the height of it). What transpired at Dowdallshill (Interestingly, Brigid's Park was the venue of all four of the Pats' knock-out games.) on August 23rd was a match so weird that you couldn't have made it up! Fresh from registering 7-21 against Stabannon in the previous round, all the Pats could muster were two scores - goals from Darren Kirwan and Sean White during a 90-second first-half spell. Amazingly, this was enough to book a place in the final as the Pats defence held firm and an unbelievable 2-0 to 0-5 victory was secured. I'll say it again: you couldn't have made it up! Cooley were on top for the first 20 minutes or so and managed only three points in this time. But goals from White (24) and Kirwan (25) gave the Pats a shock lead. Cooley pulled a point back before the break and there was only one point scored in the entire second half. The Pats must have been pinching themselves but they were through to the final and would make no mistake therein. The quarter-final at the same venue on August 8th was much more entertaining - unless you happened to be a Stabannon Parnells supporter! Pats won the game by an incredible 7-21 to 1-6, with Damien Connor bagging an awesome personal haul of four goals and six points. Meanwhile, Eamonn Carroll, who enjoyed a stellar campaign from start to finish, chipped in with 1-3. Stabannon didn't know what had hit them. In the preliminaries, Pats emerged unbeaten from Group B, with five points collected from a possible six. They kicked off with an impressive 1-11 to 2-6 defeat of defending champions and Leinster club finalists Mattock Rangers at Haggardstown in mid-May and drew with Newtown Blues (who snatched an injury-time leveller) at Ardee a fortnight later. With the hard work done, Pats officially booked their place in the business end of the 2003 Louth senior football championship when disposing of Hunterstown Rovers, 3-18 to 0-7, at Pairc Clan Na nGael on Tuesday July 15th. With five wins and two draws, Pats finished the year unbeaten in the premier competition and are worthy champions. Happy Anniversary! They certainly won't be waiting 50 years for their next senior championship... St Patricks, 2003 Louth senior football champions: Sean Connor; Dessie Finnegan, Colin Goss, Owen Zamboglou; Johnny Holland, Paudie Mallon, Damien White; Jim Holland, Paddy Keenan (0-3); Eamon Carroll, Padraig Devane, Ray Finnegan (0-3); Damien Connor (2-3), Shane Hynes, Darren Kirwan (0-2). Subs: Sean White, Johnny Keenan, Shane Finnegan. Tweet

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