Louth under-16 squad plotting a raid on the Kingdom
THE Louth U-16 squad get their new season underway in earnest this week with four games scheduled on a weekend trip to the Kingdom of Kerry.
The squad will be the first team to represent the county at the new U-17 Minor grade next season and later this year they will taste their first competitive action when they partake in the Gerry Reilly Cup tournament during July, and in the Fr Manning Cup tournament in October.
All 37 players on the panel are signed up for the trip and there’s a real buzz in the camp at the prospect of pitting their wits against arguably the greatest GAA footballing county in the land.
While Kerry have the most All-Ireland titles at adult level, a mind blowing 37 titles, they experienced a barren spell until recently collecting three Tommy Markham Cups in 2016, 2015 and 2014.
The Louth panel will hit the road for Tralee early on Saturday morning where the squad will play two games, taking on the Kerry North and South U-16 panels.
The squad will then move on to its base for the weekend in Annascaul, in the heart of West Kerry on the Dingle Peninsula.
The squad will have some downtime on Sunday morning before playing an evening game, possibly in Dingle, against a West Kerry U-17 selection, a regional team comprising the five teams on the peninsula – Annascaul, Lispole, Dingle, An Ghaeltacht and Castlegregory. A trip is planned to the famed Páidí Ó Sé’s in Ventry later that evening for some bia, ceoil agus craic.
Anyone thinking the West Kerry match might be the easiest on the trip may need reminding that the local post primary school in Dingle, Corca Dhuibhne, has just made it to the u-16.5 All-Ireland “A” Final (Paul McGirr Cup) where they will play Derry’s St Patricks of Maghera towards the end of March. Indeed 8 players from that Corca Dhuibhne panel visited Monasterboice in 2014 where as part of a West Kerry selection they beat their hosts Naomh Máirtín (Louth), Fingal Ravens (Dublin) and St Pats of Stamullen (Meath) in winning a four-county club challenge.
That squad featured players from all five West Kerry clubs and was led by mentors Tim Falvey, Paudie Moriarty and Johnny Lenihan from Annascaul CPG.
The trip to the north east allowed the Naomh Máirtín club to repay some thanks to Annascaul for their marvellous hospitality shown to The Jocks in 2013, 2014 and 2015 when they participated in Comortas Peile John Egan, the u-14 invitational tournament launched in honour of the late great Kerry forward John Egan (Sneem).
Plans are still progressing with regard to the team’s fourth and final game on the way back home to the north-east on Monday, 10th April.
The panel has been under the stewardship since Under-14 of a mentor team comprising Tom Rooney (Naomh Máirtín), Malcolm McDonnell (O’Connells) and Sean Hand (Kilkerley Emmets and Louth GDA). Having lost the services of Sean Kelleher (Dreadnots), the management team will be augmented this season with the additions of both Noel Litchfield (Kilkerley Emmets) and Hugh Lyons (Naomh Máirtín).