Senior stars give U-21s hope for Leinster
LOUTH boss Colin Kelly is sweating over the fitness of key duo Andy McDonnell and Jim McEneaney for Sunday’s trip to Tullamore to face Offaly (2.00).
Both players are ‘extremely doubtful’ with McDonnell due to undergo a scan this week on a knee injury he sustained in UCD’s shock Sigerson Cup final defeat to St Mary’s on Saturday.
McEneaney is still struggling to shake off and ankle injury he sustained in Louth’s narrow win over Longford last Sunday week.
Darren McMahon is still out with a hamstring injury, but on the plus side, Derek Crilly should return to full training this week after a similar complaint, and may be available for the clash ion O’Connor Park.
Crilly played most of the O’Byrne Cup at full forward and could slot back in if McEneaney doesn’t return in time. Eoin O’Connor may be another option, despite being used primarily as a midfielder by Kelly to date.
The manager cannot fully commit to a starting XV until after tomorrow night’s under-21 clash with Ryan Burns, Kevin Carr, Ross Nally and Sam Mulroy all likely to be on duty against Wicklow in Baltinglass.
‘It’s a tricky period for those guys and we haven’t done a huge amount since the Longford game,’ Kelly said. ‘The lads went back to the under-21s and we had a few over at the Sigerson weekend so after seven games in six weeks we took the view that less is more and tried to manage the workload.
‘Now we have to see what happens with the injuries and how the lads come through tomorrow night.’
One thing that Kelly is sure about is that Offaly will present his unbeaten side with a stern test in Tullamore.
‘I saw them against Longford and they have some really good players and they acquitted themselves very well in this division last year. They are unbeaten at home for three seasons, so no matter what division you are in that’s an impressive statistic.
‘In terms of form lines you could look at different ways. Longford beat Offaly by five points which suggests our result over Longford was good, which I knew it was.
‘But Offaly hammered Antrim two weeks and we played two very tight games against Antrim last season, so it’s certainly not an easy place to go and you wouldn’t expect it to be.’
Despite the injuries and interruptions from college and under-21 football, Kelly admitted morale is good in the camp and he admitted that proving the pundits wrong is always nice.
‘Before the league started they were touted as favourites for relegation, but we don’t worry about what is said outside the parameters of the squad. They are a talented and ambitious group and they work damn hard and they are in a good position with two wins form two games.
‘Three wins from three would put them in a serious position, but even if it goes the other way you’re still on four points, which is still healthy. A defeat would knock you back into the pack a bit, but either way we’ll still be in contention.’
Bus to Offaly
LOUTH GAA are running a bus to Sunday’s game in Tullamore. It will leave McKeown’s, Dundalk at 10.30am and Drogheda at 11am. Contact Gerry 087-7500414 or Brian 087-2830308 to reserve a seat.