Wee County put it up to Royals in derby tussle

THE New Year started as the old one had ended for Louth - with a defeat!

However, a 0-13 to 1-9 O’Byrne Cup defeat to Offaly was far from a disaster and the Reds bounced back with an eye-catching 2-11 to 0-8 midweek win over Kildare in Hawkfield.

They needed to beat DIT and get a favour from the Lilywhites in the final round of games to pip Offaly to top spot in the group.

They held up their own end of the bargain emphatically with a 3-19 to 1-9 win over the Students and Kildare obliged too, to set up a North East semi-final showdown with Meath.

Despite playing the last 20 minutes with 14 men in Drogheda, the Royals hung on to seal a narrow 0-10 to 0-9 win and book their place in the final.

But Louth lost little in defeat and confidence was high heading into the NFL Division 4 opener against London in Darver.

The Exiles made life tough for Colin Kelly’s men, but goals from Jim McEneaney and Declan Byrne proved the difference as Louth secured a 2-9 to 0-9 victory.

Louth hurlers had a tough Kehoe Cup group to negotiate, but they opened with a win over regular rivals Fingal.

Second-half goals from Seaghan Conneally, Paddy Lynch and Liam Dwan saw the home side pull away in Darver.

However, that was as good as January got for the Reds as they lost by 3-14 to 0-6 to Wicklow before running eventual group winners Maynooth a bit closer in a 3-18 to 2-10 defeat.

Louth Ladies opened their National League campaign and it was all too easy for the Reds as they cruised to an 8-18 to 1-7 win away to Derry.

Radical changes to the club championships in Meath GAA came up for discussion at a special meeting, including a reduction to 16 teams in each grade.