2020 Louth Senior Football Championship Explained

2020 Louth Senior Football Championship
County:	Louth
Year:	2020
Trophy:	Joe Ward Cup
Sponsor:	Anchor Tours
Date:	August – September 2020
Num Teams:	12
Defending Champions:	Newtown Blues
Winners:	Naomh Máirtín
Ordinal:	1
Manager:	Fergal Reel
Captain:	Mick Fanning
Qualify For:	Leinster Club SFC
Runnersup:	St Mary's
Runnerupmanager:	Seán Barry
Runnerupcaptain:	Darren Clarke
Previous:	2019
Next:	2021

The 2020 Louth Senior Football Championship was the 127th edition of the Louth GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior graded teams in County Louth, Ireland. The tournament consisted of 12 teams, with the winner going on to represent Louth in the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship. The championship started with a group stage and then progressed to a knock out stage.

Newtown Blues were the defending champions for the third year in a row after they defeated the Naomh Máirtín in the previous years final. ^[1]

This was Mattock Rangers' return to the senior grade after at 4 year absence (they were relegated from the S.F.C. to the I.F.C. back in 2015) when claiming the 2019 Louth Intermediate Football Championship title with a final victory over Kilkerley Emmets.^[2]

Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2019 championship season.

To S.F.C.

Promoted from 2019 Louth I.F.C.

• Mattock Rangers - (Intermediate Champions)

From S.F.C.

Relegated to 2020 Louth I.F.C.

• Seán O'Mahony's

Group stage

There are 4 groups called Group A, B, C and D. The top two finishers in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. The bottom finishers of each group will qualify for the Relegation Play-off. ^[3]

Group A

Team
St. Patrick's Lordship	2	1	0	1	33	26	+7	3
Geraldines	2	0	0	2	30	30	+0	2
O'Raghallaighs	2	0	1	1	30	37	-7	1

Round 1:

• St. Patrick's 1-10, 1-10 Geraldines, Dowdallshill, 16/8/2020,

Round 2:

• Geraldines 2-11, 2-11 O'Raghallaighs, Darver, 25/8/2020,

Round 3:

• St. Patrick's 2-14, 1-10 O'Raghallaighs, Darver, 30/8/2020,

Group B

Team
Naomh Máirtín	2	2	0	0	37	21	+16	4
St. Mochta's	2	0	1	1	30	32	-2	1
Dreadnots	2	0	1	1	23	37	-14	1

Round 1:

• Dreadnots 0-16, 1-13 St. Mochta's, Dunleer, 16/8/2020,

Round 2:

• Naomh Máirtín 2-15, 0-07 Dreadnots, Darver, 23/8/2020,

Round 3:

• Naomh Máirtín 1-13, 1-11 St. Mochta's, Darver, 30/8/2020,

Group C

Team
St. Joseph's Dromisken	2	2	0	0	28	22	+6	4
Dundalk Gaels	2	1	0	1	29	24	+5	2
O'Connells	2	0	0	2	19	30	-11	0

Round 1:

• Dundalk Gaels 0-17, 0-09 O'Connells, Ardee, 16/8/2020,

Round 2:

• St. Joseph's 2-09, 2-06 Dundalk Gaels, Darver, 23/8/2020,

Round 3:

• St. Joseph's 0-13, 0-10 O'Connells, Darver, 30/8/2020,

Group D

Team
Ardee St. Mary's	2	2	0	0	42	34	+8	4
Newtown Blues	2	1	0	1	32	31	+1	2
Mattock Rangers	2	0	0	2	36	45	-9	0

Round 1:

• Newtown Blues 2-12, 2-10 Mattock Rangers, Drogheda Park, 16/8/2020,

Round 2:

• Ardee St. Mary's 1-12, 0-14 Newtown Blues, Darver, 23/8/2020,

Round 3:

• Ardee St. Mary's 4-15, 0-20 Mattock Rangers, Darver, 30/8/2020,

Knock-out stages

Relegation play-off

The four bottom finishers from each group qualified for the Relegation Play-Off. The team to lose both matches were relegated to the 2021 I.F.C.

Finals Newtown Blues1-27 Dundalk Gales 0-18

Quarter-finals

The winners and runners up of each group qualify for the quarter-finals.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Newtown Blues -vs- Naomh Mairtin (2019 S.F.C. Final). 20 October 2019. Dundalkdemocrat.ie. 20 October 2019.
2. Web site: Mattock Rangers -vs- Kilkerley Emmets (2019 I.F.C. Final). 6 October 2019. Dundalkdemocrat.ie. 6 October 2019.
3. Web site: 2020 Louth S.F.C. Draw. 16 January 2019. Dundalkdemocrat.ie. 13 February 2020.