WEE WERE WAY OUT OF OUR DEPTH
LOUTH’S relegation to Division 3 of the National Football League was confirmed over the weekend with a seven point defeat in Ennis.
Again we failed to start the game at the required pace and found ourselves a goal down within seconds of the throw-in. Ten points behind at the break there was only going to be one outcome.
Following successive promotions which brought the team from Division 4 to Division 2, the 2018 campaign has been a difficult, and at times humbling, experience for Pete McGrath and his players.
Six defeats in a row does little for morale or confidence but the margin of those defeats (all by seven points or greater) can really sap the energy from the group. We always knew it was going to be a massive step up in terms of quality in Division 2 but nobody expected us to be exposed in this way. Based on our performances this term we are way out of our depth at this level and fully deserve to go straight back down. In fairness to the new management team some new players have been unearthed during the campaign but I wonder if more could have been done to maintain the momentum from the 2016 and 2017 league campaigns?
From what was a relatively young side last season, there seems to have been a huge turnover in personnel in a very short period of time.
Of the 21 players used in last year’s promotion-winning game against Tipperary only seven of them started against Clare at the weekend. We simply don’t have a playing population in Louth sufficient enough to sustain such changes.
There was a lot of speculation during the week that the last two outstanding fixtures in Division 2 (Louth v Meath and Down v Tipperary) might not go ahead if there was nothing to play for. However that all changed at the weekend with Meath’s defeat of Down in Navan.
Meath now need a win or a draw in Drogheda on Sunday to avoid the drop. Down need a win in Newry and hope Louth do them a favour.
A dead rubber game now takes on some extra significance. Normally a local derby like this would attract a big crowd to the Gaelic Grounds but with both teams struggling for form and other Easter Sunday distractions the capacity of the North Road venue might not be tested.
As a direct result of the game going ahead, the start of the main leagues in Louth has been postponed. The recent inclement weather has had a huge bearing on fixtures but it’s the club player who yet again carries the can.
As mentioned in this column previously, there is a time bomb waiting to explode in the club game as regard the ongoing fixtures situation. The GAA’s remedial patchwork of giving April to the clubs has been a mess and looks as though it will only deepen the mistrust.
The Club Players Association have been very patient and fair up to now but I can see that changing very soon. The battle plans are being prepared as we speak.