Whitewash now on the cards for bedraggled Reds
LOUTH supporters must feel a bit like Bill Murray in the hit film Groundhog Day, as their team sit precariously on the brink of a National League whitewash.
All of the mistakes and failings that have become all too familiar this season were repeated again in Cusack Park as Clare condemned Pete McGrath’s side to their sixth defeat on the trot.
The odds will be stacked against the Reds again on Saturday (3.00) when they host a Meath side still scrapping for their lives, and even a May Championship date with Carlow is now being eyed with trepaditation amongst the Wee County faithful.
While Louth were favourites for the drop at the start of the campaign, it’s the manner of the defeats that has set the alarm bells ringing.
They opened with a seven-point defeat to Down and Cork and Clare enjoyed the same margin of victory over McGrath’s troops, while Cavan, Roscommon and Tipp had 13, 12 and 14 points to spare respectively.
And Sunday’s haul of 1-11 was their biggest of the season, highlighting just how far off the pace they’ve been in the second tier.
One aspect McGrath has specifically targeted is his side’s tendency to start slowly, but on Sunday Clare had the ball in the back of the net inside 15 seconds, without a Louth player managing to lay a hand on the ball.
‘It’s terribly frustrating,’ admitted goalkeeper Craig Lynch afterwards. ‘I’m just looking in the door there at the lads sitting in the dressing room with their heads down. We came into the game hoping to turn the tide and cut out the mistakes of the previous weeks, but straight away they get a goal almost off the throw-in and you’re on the back foot straight away.
‘We’ve been working a lot on shape in training and it really is a split second where you lose two or three steps on your marker and he’s in and it’s in the back of the net.’
While identifying the problems and deficiencies hasn’t been difficult, correcting them certainly has, and when Louth managed to steady the ship after that early goal another familiar gremlin popped up.
The Reds have proven easy prey when opponents up the ante and Clare did just that in a 10-minute spell before the break, ending any faint hopes of a comeback with two further goals.
For a goalkeeper it can be even more frustrating as you watch it all unfold.
‘Lapses in concentration killed us and the second goal was a poor kick out by myself. We know it’s happening, I can see it happening, but stopping it from happening is the problem.
‘As I was saying to Seamus Quigley [goalkeeping coach], there wasn’t much between the teams overall, just three mistakes by us, but I suppose that’s Division 2 football for you.
‘When you’re chasing the game you leave gaps at the back and they exploit them so I s suppose that comes with the territory.’
You could say Louth were better after the break, but with one huge caveat: other than improving their league finishing position this game meant nothing to Clare, and with 10 points to spare they had it won by half-time.
‘We did come back into it but it’s demoralising to be focusing on the first 10 minutes, talking about keeping it tight and then lose a goal after 10 seconds. We’ve shown our capabilities to close the gap, but it is tough to come back loss, after loss, after loss. The scoreline s showed we came back in the secondo and I think we won the second-half, but b it’s frustrating.’
However, there was one consolation, as
the t Reds finally netted a goal early in the
second-half, s ending a spell approaching 400
minutes m without finding the net.
‘That is a great relief because we spoke
about a not scoring a goal and hopefully that
will w be a monkey off our back.
’The last couple of weeks have been
tough but I felt we were beginning to turn the tide. The break last week was good and the dressing room seemed a bit happier. A lot of our performance today was good enough but again it only takes two or three seconds and you’re six points down.’
Louth’s plight only confirms the view that they were never cut out for life in Division 2, but Lynch insists the circumstances were far from ideal.
‘People had said to me we’re not cut out for Division 2 over the last few weeks, but I think if you look at the lads in the panel and a few more who maybe aren’t in it, they’re definitely good enough for Division 2.
‘But we had new players coming in, a new manager, a new system of play and when you lose a few games heads are bound to go down. In Division 2 you’re playing topclass teams and it’s very difficult. But when things go against you, you have to fight back.’
And what better way to do that than against the ol’ enemy Meath on Saturday afternoon!