Grimes departure to New Zealand a big blow for Louth

GAA INTER-COUNTY

COLIN Kelly will have to plan without one of his star per-performers from 2016 as Conor Grimes jets out to New Zealand.

The full-forward started to deliver on his huge potential as Louth landed the Division 4 title and promotion earlier this year, but hehe is expected to miss most, or all, of the national league and possibly the championship.

The blow was softened somewhat by the return of Andy McDonnell and Ronan Carroll, but with a daunting Division 3 campaign to negotiate next spring, losing the Glen Emmets man is a big blow for Kelly and his squad.

The Reds can officially return to full training this week following the winter ban, and they face Tyrone on Sunday week, December 11th, in the O Fiaich Cup in Crossmaglen.

The first semi-final in the pre-Christmas competition takes place this Sunday with hosts Armagh taking on Derry in Oliver Plunkett Park at 1.30pm.

The winners will face Louth or Tyrone in the decider on December 18th.

It’s not yet known if Colin Kelly’s troops will be donning their new 2017 kit at that stage.

A change of sponsor will necessitate another jersey change this winter with the identity of Morgan Fuels’ successors expected to be announced by the county board in the coming weeks.

Louth’s O’Byrne Cup schedule was also revealed last week, with an away trip to Westmeath up first on January 8th, followed by home games against Maynooth University on January 11th and Carlow on the 15th. Topping the group would see Louth through to the semi-finals on January 22nd, with the final scheduled for the 29th. The Reds start their National League campaign away in Portlaoise on Saturday February 4th. Meanwhile, on the club scene, St Patrick’s have turned to former Navan O’Mahony’s boss Davy Nelson (pictured right) as they bid to regain their Joe Ward crown in 2017. The 2015 champions failed to emerge from their group this summer and had to negotiate a relegation play-off final win over O’Connell’s to guarantee their survival. Nelson won Senior titles in Meath and Monaghan with O’Mahony’s and Latton respectively. Elsewhere, Naomh Fionnbarra have confirmed that former Pat’s defender Patrick White will succeed Cathal O’Hanlon at John Markey Park.