Stabannon Parnells won their third county title of the nineties with a three-point victory over St Mary's Ardee in a poor Louth SFC replay in Drogheda yesterday. In a tightly-contested match, St Mary's had two players dismissed in five minutes - fullback Brian Keenan 16 minutes into the second half, followed by Dermot Duffy. The scores were level, however, with five minutes to go but Stabannon's use of the extra men paid off and points from Bernie Murray, John Donaldson and Pat Butterly brought the Joe Ward Cup back to the Louth parish for the first time since 1994.
Mary's got off to a great start with a goal from full forward Brendan Kerin after nine minutes but it was Stabannon and Pat Butterly who impressed in the first period, despite trailing 1-3 to 0-4 at the interval.
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