2023 Louth Senior Football Championship

2023 Louth Senior Football Championship
Tournament details
County	Louth
Year	2023
Trophy	Joe Ward Cup
Sponsor	Anchor Tours
Date	27 August – 22 October 2023
Teams	12
Defending champions	St Mary's
Winners
Champions	St Mary's
Qualify for	Leinster Club SFC
Runners-up
Runners-up	Naomh Máirtin

The 2023 Louth Senior Football Championship was the 130th edition of the premier Gaelic football tournament for Senior graded clubs in County Louth, Ireland, organized by Louth GAA. The tournament consisted of 12 teams, with the winner going on to represent the county in the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship. The championship began with a group stage and progressed to a knockout stage after the four teams that finished bottom of their group were eliminated.

St Mary's entered the tournament as defending champions after defeating Newtown Blues in the 2022 decider.^[2]

The Ardee club retained the Joe Ward Cup, beating Naomh Máirtin by one point in the final at Dowdallshill.^[3]

Team changes edit

Cooley Kickhams were promoted to Senior football for 2023 as winners of the 2022 Louth Intermediate Championship.^[4] They replaced Mattock Rangers, who lost the 2022 Senior Championship Relegation play-off to Dundalk Gaels.^[5]

Group stage edit

Group 1 edit

Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Naomh Máirtin	2	1	0	1	35	22	+13	3
St Mochta's	2	1	0	1	34	27	+7	3
Dundalk Gaels	2	0	2	0	23	43	-20	0

Round 1

27 August 2023 (2023-08-27)^[6]	Naomh Máirtin	3–13 (22) – (9) 2–03	Dundalk Gaels	Clan na Gael Park

Round 2

4 September 2023 (2023-09-04)^[7]	Naomh Máirtin	2–07 (13) – (13) 0–13	St Mochta's	Darver

Round 3

10 September 2023 (2023-09-10)^[8]	Dundalk Gaels	2–08 (14) – (21) 2–15	St Mochta's	Páirc Mhuire

Group 2 edit

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Dreadnots	2	2	0	28	23	+5	4
Geraldines	2	1	1	28	27	+1	2
St Fechin's	2	0	2	20	26	-6	0

Round 1

28 August 2023 (2023-08-28)^[9]	Geraldines	2–08 (14) – (16) 2–10	Dreadnots	Darver

Round 2

3 September 2023 (2023-09-03)^[10]	Dreadnots	0–12 (12) – (9) 0–09	St Fechin's	Darver

Round 3

10 September 2023 (2023-09-10)^[11]	Geraldines	0–14 (14) – (11) 1–08	St Fechin's	Darver

Group 3 edit

Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PD	Pts
St Patrick's	2	2	0	0	26	20	+6	4
St Joseph's	2	0	1	1	22	23	-1	1
Newtown Blues	2	0	1	1	26	31	-5	1

Round 1

27 August 2023 (2023-08-27)^[12]	Newtown Blues	1–11 (14) – (14) 0–14	St Joseph's	St Brigid's Park

Round 2

3 September 2023 (2023-09-03)^[13]	Newtown Blues	0–12 (12) – (17) 1–14	St Patrick's	Clan na Gael Park

Round 3

10 September 2023 (2023-09-10)^[14]	St Joseph's	0–08 (8) – (9) 1–06	St Patrick's	St Brigid's Park

Group 4 edit

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
St Mary's	2	2	0	35	18	+17	4
Cooley Kickhams	1	0	1	24	28	-4	1
St Bride's	1	0	1	22	35	-13	1

Round 1

27 August 2023 (2023-08-27)^[15]	St Mary's	2–15 (21) – (8) 0–08	St Bride's	Darver

Round 2

3 September 2023 (2023-09-03)^[16]	St Mary's	2–08 (14) – (10) 0–10	Cooley Kickhams	St Brigid's Park

Round 3

11 September 2023 (2023-09-11)^[17]	St Bride's	1–11 (14) – (14) 1–11	Cooley Kickhams	Clan na Gael Park

Relegation Play-Off Semi-finals edit

29 September 2023 (2023-09-29)^[18]	Newtown Blues	4–15 (27) – (10) 0–10	Dundalk Gaels	Darver

1 October 2023 (2023-10-01)^[19]	St Fechin's	0–14 (14) – (15) 1–12	St Bride's	Darver

Relegation Play-Off Final edit

10 October 2023 (2023-10-10)^[20]	Dundalk Gaels	0–12 (12) – (33) 6–15	St Fechin's	Darver

Dundalk Gaels are relegated to Intermediate football for 2024.

Knockout stage edit

Quarter-finals edit

22 September 2023 (2023-09-22)^[21]	Dreadnots	0–09 (9) – (8) 0–08	Cooley Kickhams	Clan na Gael Park

23 September 2023 (2023-09-23)^[22]	St Mary's	3–12 (21) – (8) 0–08	St Joseph's	Darver

24 September 2023 (2023-09-24)^[23]	St Patrick's	1–13 (16) – (11) 1–08	St Mochta's	St Brigid's Park

25 September 2023 (2023-09-25)^[24]	Naomh Máirtin	2–07 (13) – (6) 0–06	Geraldines	Stabannon

Semi-finals edit

6 October 2023 (2023-10-06)^[25]	Dreadnots	3–09 (18) – (19) 1–16	Naomh Máirtin	Darver

8 October 2023 (2023-10-08)^[26]	St Patrick's	3–10 (19) – (26) 4–14	St Mary's	St Brigid's Park

Final edit

22 October 2023 (2023-10-22)^[27]	St Mary's	0–15 (15) – (14) 1–11	Naomh Máirtin	St Brigid's Park

References edit

^ "Anchor Tours SFC Rd 2:Full Time Naomh Mairtin 2-07 St.Mochtas 0-13". Louth GAA. 4 September 2023.
^ "Ardee St Marys end 27 year wait for Joe Ward Cup following thrilling Senior Replay". Dundalk Democrat. 16 October 2022.
^ "Senior final result: Ardee St Mary's 0-15 Naomh Mairtin 1-11". Dundalk Democrat. 23 October 2023.
^ "Brian White the hero as Cooley Kickhams end 32-year wait for Louth championship title". Drogheda Independent. 3 October 2022.
^ "Dundalk Gaels show some guile to punish wasteful Mattock and retain their senior championship status". Drogheda Independent. 1 October 2022.
^ "Naomh Máirtín recover from concessions to overwhelm Dundalk Gaels in Louth SFC clash". The Argus. 28 August 2023.
^ "St Mochta's grab late leveller as absorbing Louth SFC clash with Naomh Máirtín ends in a draw". The Argus. 4 September 2023.
^ "St Mochtas' costly finish deprives them of top spot in the group despite Louth SFC victory over Dundalk Gaels". The Argus. 10 September 2023.
^ "Dreadnots eke out narrow win over Geraldines in Darver". Dundalk Democrat. 30 August 2023.
^ "Dreadnots dominate St Fechin's in hot-tempered affair to seal place in Louth SFC quarter-finals". The Argus. 3 September 2023.
^ "Geraldines display their quality in comfortable Louth SFC victory over St Fechin's". The Argus. 10 September 2023.
^ "St Joseph's and Newtown Blues draw a thrilling Louth SFC encounter in Dowdallshill". The Argus. 28 August 2023.
^ "St Patrick's deal potentially fatal blow to Newtown Blues' Louth SFC hopes with five-point victory". The Argus. 3 September 2023.
^ "St Joseph's advance at Newtown Blues' expense despite defeat by St Patrick's in dour Louth SFC clash". The Argus. 10 September 2023.
^ "Ardee St Mary's begin their Louth SFC title defence with comfortable defeat of St Bride's". The Argus. 28 August 2023.
^ "Ardee St Marys' substitutes key as they fend off impressive Cooley Kickhams in Louth SFC clash". The Argus. 3 September 2023.
^ "Fearghal Malone let the leached leather fly to save Cooley Kickhams' Louth SFC season in thrilling draw with St Bride's". The Argus. 12 September 2023.
^ "Newtown Blues put on a show to secure their Louth SFC status, leaving Dundalk Gaels in a relegation play-off". The Argus. 1 October 2023.
^ "Louth GAA: Brides rally late to secure senior status". Dundalk Democrat. 2 October 2023.
^ "Dundalk Gaels no match for St Fechins as Darver clash sees them drop to Intermediate". Dundalk Democrat. 10 October 2023.
^ "Dreadnots win by the slenderest of margins over a dogged Cooley Kickhams". Dundalk Democrat. 23 September 2023.
^ "Louth GAA: Ardee easily account for Joes". Dundalk Democrat. 25 September 2023.
^ "St Patrick's pip St Mochta's at fourth attempt to progress to first Louth SFC semi-final in five years". The Argus. 25 September 2023.
^ "Louth GAA: Mulroy helps Mairtins overcome gutsy Geraldines". Dundalk Democrat. 26 September 2023.
^ "Naomh Mairtin snatch victory over Dreanots from the jaws of defeat". Dundalk Democrat. 7 October 2023.
^ "Ardee St Mary's make their way back to Senior final with victory over St Pat's". Dundalk Democrat. 10 October 2023.
^ "Ardee St. Mary's earn back-to-back Louth titles". RTÉ Sport. 22 October 2023.

[1] "Anchor Tours SFC Rd 2:Full Time Naomh Mairtin 2-07 St.Mochtas 0-13". Louth GAA. 4 September 2023.

[2] "Ardee St Marys end 27 year wait for Joe Ward Cup following thrilling Senior Replay". Dundalk Democrat. 16 October 2022.

[3] "Senior final result: Ardee St Mary's 0-15 Naomh Mairtin 1-11". Dundalk Democrat. 23 October 2023.

[4] "Brian White the hero as Cooley Kickhams end 32-year wait for Louth championship title". Drogheda Independent. 3 October 2022.

[5] "Dundalk Gaels show some guile to punish wasteful Mattock and retain their senior championship status". Drogheda Independent. 1 October 2022.

[6] "Naomh Máirtín recover from concessions to overwhelm Dundalk Gaels in Louth SFC clash". The Argus. 28 August 2023.

[7] "St Mochta's grab late leveller as absorbing Louth SFC clash with Naomh Máirtín ends in a draw". The Argus. 4 September 2023.

[8] "St Mochtas' costly finish deprives them of top spot in the group despite Louth SFC victory over Dundalk Gaels". The Argus. 10 September 2023.

[9] "Dreadnots eke out narrow win over Geraldines in Darver". Dundalk Democrat. 30 August 2023.

[10] "Dreadnots dominate St Fechin's in hot-tempered affair to seal place in Louth SFC quarter-finals". The Argus. 3 September 2023.

[11] "Geraldines display their quality in comfortable Louth SFC victory over St Fechin's". The Argus. 10 September 2023.

[12] "St Joseph's and Newtown Blues draw a thrilling Louth SFC encounter in Dowdallshill". The Argus. 28 August 2023.

[13] "St Patrick's deal potentially fatal blow to Newtown Blues' Louth SFC hopes with five-point victory". The Argus. 3 September 2023.

[14] "St Joseph's advance at Newtown Blues' expense despite defeat by St Patrick's in dour Louth SFC clash". The Argus. 10 September 2023.

[15] "Ardee St Mary's begin their Louth SFC title defence with comfortable defeat of St Bride's". The Argus. 28 August 2023.

[16] "Ardee St Marys' substitutes key as they fend off impressive Cooley Kickhams in Louth SFC clash". The Argus. 3 September 2023.

[17] "Fearghal Malone let the leached leather fly to save Cooley Kickhams' Louth SFC season in thrilling draw with St Bride's". The Argus. 12 September 2023.

[18] "Newtown Blues put on a show to secure their Louth SFC status, leaving Dundalk Gaels in a relegation play-off". The Argus. 1 October 2023.

[19] "Louth GAA: Brides rally late to secure senior status". Dundalk Democrat. 2 October 2023.

[20] "Dundalk Gaels no match for St Fechins as Darver clash sees them drop to Intermediate". Dundalk Democrat. 10 October 2023.

[21] "Dreadnots win by the slenderest of margins over a dogged Cooley Kickhams". Dundalk Democrat. 23 September 2023.

[22] "Louth GAA: Ardee easily account for Joes". Dundalk Democrat. 25 September 2023.

[23] "St Patrick's pip St Mochta's at fourth attempt to progress to first Louth SFC semi-final in five years". The Argus. 25 September 2023.

[24] "Louth GAA: Mulroy helps Mairtins overcome gutsy Geraldines". Dundalk Democrat. 26 September 2023.

[25] "Naomh Mairtin snatch victory over Dreanots from the jaws of defeat". Dundalk Democrat. 7 October 2023.

[26] "Ardee St Mary's make their way back to Senior final with victory over St Pat's". Dundalk Democrat. 10 October 2023.

[27] "Ardee St. Mary's earn back-to-back Louth titles". RTÉ Sport. 22 October 2023.

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