Not so long since Blues were in a fight for survival

The question was asked here last week: Have Newtown Blues ever failed to make it out of the senior championship qualifying stage.

Well, they have – as recently as 2015, and it was none other than the good old Dundalk Gaels who contributed to the multiple title-winners ending up in a relegation battle.

There are more nimble brains than your writer’s around The Ramparts.

When it comes to stats and history, Niall Lambert and Sean McCann are hard to beat.

And Peter McGahon is known to get more than a few right. (Perhaps we should team up for a quiz some time. I’ll carry the drinks.)

It was McCann who put us right on the Blues issue, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since he was on the team that caused the Drogheda outfit a bit of bother eight years ago.

“The game was in Haggardstown, and what I remember most about it is the two goals Ger McSorley scored for us,” Sean says in his message, adding that his side won easily.

Gaels had been beaten 0-7 to 0-5 by the other team in the group, Geraldines, in a game which my club colleague describes as a “classic”. When the Gers went on to win the final group match, Blues’ fate was sealed.

There was no joy for Gers or Gaels in the knock-outs, at the end of which the holders, St Patrick’s, had qualified to meet first–time finalists Sean O’Mahony’s. Blues, as expected, survived the relegation dogfight.

The final went to Pat’s, giving them a seventh title since winning their first in 2003. But it was better for O’Mahony’s the following year; their win over St Mary’s gave them a title-win that sparked celebrations previously unseen in the Quay area of Dundalk.

And it wasn’t long before Blues were back on the horse. Their revenge for the 2015 defeat by Gaels came in the final of two years later, giving them the first of three consecutive title-wins.

This is being written on Friday night. If in the meantime Blues are consigned to the relegation play-offs, don’t bet against them being involved in next year’s Joe Ward Cup competition.

And I should add that I hope Sean McCann’s side cause a surprise at Ardee on Sunday evening. I know in saying that I’m wearing my club colours, but so be it.