JOHN SAVAGE

HE doesn’t class it as his greatest achievement as a manager, but guiding an un-fancied Louth side to a first Leinster U-21 final in 16 years was definitely one of the most enjoyable and satisfying experiences of Colin Kelly’s career to date.

It was eight years ago last week when the Reds succumbed to a Jim Gavin Dublin team that contained Ciaran Kilkenny and Jack McCaffrey.

But for Louth, for whom Leinster finals are a bit like hen’s teeth, just getting to the final was a big deal.

Kelly remembers it all fondly and he would later bring many of the same players through to his senior set-up.

And that was an even more rewarding experience as the Reds climbed from Division 4 to Division 2 in two seasons.

‘The bigger achievement was probably getting from Division 4 to Division 2 after the tough time we had with all the lads retiring and walking away. It was difficult re-building that to become a Division 2 side so that was probably more rewarding, but definitely one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had involved with a team was with that 21 team.’ Kelly reveals.

‘As well as being very, very committed and excellent players, they were good fun to be around and an enjoyable bunch.’

Like Wayne Kierans’ minors a few years later no-one really saw it coming.

Louth rarely set the world alight at the underage grades, so the county does get excited about provincial final appearances.

Kelly, though, had an inclination 2012 might be a different vintage.

‘I kind of knew they were an above average team the night we played Armagh one night below in Darver in a challenge match. Armagh were decent at that time as well and we beat them comfortably by five or six points and I just remember speaking to Colm [Nally] and Christy [Grimes] about it the next day and agreeing it was an above-average group.

‘So kind of knew that individually they were good, but pulling it together is always a different story.

‘When we looked at the [Leinster] draw we knew it was going to take a big effort to be successful.

‘Longford and Offaly were both strong teams and we had a nothing match [against Kilkenny] in the first round. So we were really going into the Longford game without having played at all. It was like a school tour or a road trip going down to Kilkenny on the Wednesday night, so that game was really of no benefit.’

It wasn’t Kelly’s first stint with the under-21s. He managed them along with Nally and Niall O’Donnell for two seasons in 2002/’03.

But it wasn’t until he had done the rounds - quite successfully - with a few club teams and took the Under-21 job again a decade later that he viewed it as a stepping stone to the top job.

‘The first time around came on the back of early retirement from our inter-county careers, albeit we were still playing club football at that stage. That was our first real entry into management and I suppose we were green-horned, totally inexperienced.

‘For me the next time [2012] was a stepping stone to see could you manage at county level. It’s one thing managing a club and that brings its own tests and examinations along the way, but being organised enough to bring through elite footballers and try and progress them is the next stage. At that stage I was involved with the O Raghallaigh’s but after that season, I had a feel for it and wanted to push on into county management.’

AS it happened, Peter Fitzpatrick departed the senior hotseat at the end of 2012 and Kelly was among favourites for the job before Aidan O’Rourke landed somewhat out of left field.

‘The senior manager’s term was up and there was a position up of for grabs. I met the county board and they probably felt I didn’t have enough experience at the time, and I just felt that it wasn’t the right time, so I pulled out at a late stage.’

Kelly felt that some of his under-21 panel were good enough to at least step up to the senior panel the following year, but it wasn’t until he took the reins in 2014 that the Leinster finalists of ‘12 came through.

That first year wasn’t easy on Kelly or his youthful squad, but they stuck by each other and it came good over the next two seasons.

‘It’s always difficult introducing minors, certainly, and even U21s into a senior squad, but these guys were after doing well. You know we pushed ourselves forward to be one of the best teams in the country that year. I know we didn’t win the Leinster final, but for all intents and purposes that was akin to getting into the last eight in the country and not everyone was as good as Dublin. It’s unfortunate to come up against a team like Dublin in the Leinster final but that’s the way it is.

‘To see those boys not being included for the next couple of years I felt was not the best way forward for Louth football. But then I was lucky enough that I knew what was coming when I did take the job. Even though we had dropped to Division 4, I knew there was enough talent around to achieve what I felt we were capable of.’

That twilight zone between minor and senior football is something Kelly has been vocal about previously and he still feels it’s an area Louth needs to work on.

‘Your first real foray into intercounty football is the minor championship. I know there are development squads, but in terms of prestige the minor and senior are the big ones and the finals are played on the same day and all that.

‘But the one that really bridges the gap is the under-20 (formerly U-21) and it’s probably fallen between two stools over the last couple years with Sigerson, club and even county seniors. Just look at our own situation this year where two of our better players were held [back] for the senior team.

‘It’s a great competition that gives lads the experience of playing at a higher level and it’s just an area where as a county I really feel we could make great strides whether it’s setting up rookie squads or strength and conditioning programmes or coaching structures to make sure we don’t lose these players.

‘You won’t get the whole 20s squad coming through, and there’ll be one or two really top players that go straight through. So there has to be a mechanism to include the guys who aren’t quite ready and develop them. For too long we have been losing them and that’s a problem.’

Returning to that fateful Spring of 2012, a cold March night in Haggardstown sticks in Kelly’s mind. A battling win over Longford instilled a belief that propelled the Reds to a big scalp in the semi-finals.

‘I think probably the second-half performance against Longford was the stand-out memory. We lost Eoin O’Connor [to a red card] and even though Willie Woods scored a goal just before half-time we were under a bit of pressure. But the management team that year was great and I pride myself on having strong management teams that are going to question you and add something to it all the time. So we spoke about it going into the dressing room, and we just said these boys are going to leave someone in sweeping the ‘D’, so it’s still 14 on 14 if we engage them.

‘Cathal Bellew was exceptional in the middle of the field that evening. And then Shane O’Hanlon went through the middle and you’d be wanting him to pop it over but he went for goal and it flies straight into the top corner. Ben Rogan and Ruairi Moore were exceptional that night too and we got a wee bit of the rub of the green.

‘Against Offaly we rode our luck a bit too at times. They had top class players like Bernard Allen, Graham Guilfoyle, Anton Sullivan, but we produced a very strong performance in the first-half to put us in a commanding position and then there were a bit of nerves holding out.

‘Brian Berrill came in as a sub an scored a great point that we badly needed and I’ll never forget the moment the final whistle went and for those guys to get to a Leinster final was just a great feeling.’

Predictably, Dublin proved too strong in the final back at Pairc Tailteann on April 4, 2012, but it was more about the journey than the destination.