championship title in 24 years. The actual game itself may have offered little as a spectacle but this mattered not a dot to O’Connells as their captain Niall Conlon brought the Seamus Flood Cup to The Grove. O’Connells controlled most of the county final but were subjected to a nervous finish after their opponents conjured a goal in the 50th minute. In truth, the victors should probably have won by more than two points… The intensity and importance of the occasion were evident as veteran Mark Stanfield and an opponent picked up yellow cards before the throw-in and O’Connells bossed the first half to lead by 0-6 to 0-2 at the break. Paul McKeever and Niall Conlon notched early scores and a Robert Quigley brace doubled the gap by the end of the first quarter. After the Clans rallied with two points in a five-minute spell, the villagers regained their composure with scores from Quigley and McKeever leaving them in the ascendancy as the short whistle sounded. The loss of captain Conlon to injury represented a blow but two McKeever frees made it 0-8 to 0-3 by the end of the third quarter. The Clans then closed within a point and, where previous O’Connells sides might have folded, Stanfield had the last say with a lovely long-range point - the silverware was on its way to ‘Bellingham at the end of a frantic finale. Centre back Jackie Agnew collected the Man of the Match award on a day the club had been dreaming of for more than two decades. This time their promotion to senior ranks would be via the preferred championship route! O’Connells, 2012 Louth intermediate football champions: Sean Connolly; Andrew Shields, Conor Byrne, Andrew Sharkey; Salem Rifaie, Jackie Agnew, Killian Shields; John Flanagan, Dean Stanfield; Cian Doyle, Paul McKeever (0-4), Stuart Reynolds; Robert Quigley (0-3), Mark Stanfield (0-1), Niall Conlon (0-1). Sub: PJ Tuite for N Conlon (32). The first real sign of the great year that lay ahead arrived at Clan na Gael Park on Friday night, May 18th when O’Connells defeated the hosts by 2-5 to 0-10 to book their place in the Paddy Sheelan Cup final. Conor McGill and Paul McKeever got the all-important goals in that subsidiary competition semifinal. Meanwhile, Newtown Blues also advanced to the decider with a 0-12 to 0-11 victory over Cooley Kickhams after extra time. The final was played at Dunleer on Saturday, May 26th and O’Connells could
The O’Connells/Stabannon/St Joes minor panel, front l/r: Conor McGill, Dean Corrigan, James Clerkin, Ciarán Gallagher, Eimhín Caldwell. Middle: John Campbell, Cian Doyle, Dean Matthews, Jordan Mackin, Daniel Bannon, Robert Quigley, Craig Doherty, Conor Mulligan, Andrew Kierans. Back: Thomas Campbell, John McLoughlin, Liam O’Leary, Colm Giggins, Micheál Cairns, Sean Halpenny, Shane McQuillan, Ciaran O’Brien, Declan Byrne, Andrew Keenanm, Conor Kiernan
The O’Connells U7's, front l/r: Sam Shearman, Killian Wall, Evan Kearney, Aaron McGrory, Keith McKeown, Evan Mulligan. Middle: Maggie McNamee, Sile Kearney, Jake Kearney, Justin Cooney, Max Kierans, Gavin Malone. Back: Ryan McKeown, Lauren Boyle, Saoirse Martin, Maeve McNamee, Calum Woods, Lee Mulligan. Mentor at back: Cian Doyle
The O'Connells/Stabannon/John Mitchells U13's, front l/r: Matthew Reynolds, Dara Callan, Trevor Matthews, Aidan Rahill, Patrick Bell, Mark Byrne, Sean Roddy, Shane Sweeney. Back: Niall Clerkin, Donal Rahill, Conor Lowth, Cian O’Dwyer, Liam Davitt, James Luckie, John Gallagher, Liam Kiernan, James Reilly
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