Louth sink to a new low on the Shannon
‘WE only ever put up scores like this on Kilkenny,’ quipped a giddy Leitrim hack in the press box as the underdogs sauntered to victory at Pairc Sean MacDiarmada on Saturday night.
With just two qualifier wins since the advent of the backdoor system 17 years ago, it was hard to begrudge the home fans their evening in the sun.
But it was the winning margin, the 25-point haul and the second-half stroll that really had them pinching themselves.
For Louth it was no great shock, unfortunately.
Just when you thought this ‘annus horribilis’ couldn’t get any more horrible, along come Leitrim.
The eager ‘home’ reporter didn’t need to be told that Kilkenny don’t play with the big ball anymore, but New York
Leitrim Louth 0-25 1-12
and London do and even the ‘non-nationals’ in the Connacht SFC put up a better fight than Louth could muster in this painful second round qualifier.
James Craven’s 28th minute dismissal was a mitigating factor, but it can’t be used as a catch-all excuse for another abysmal display.
The Reds came into the game on the back of a badly-needed win over London in round one and the draw seemed to be kind again when it threw up Leitrim, but rather than kicking on from that Ruislip victory, Pete McGrath’s side lapsed back into the bad habits and failings that led to seven straight league defeats and a Leinster Championship drubbing by Carlow.
Pete McGrath revealed afterwards that he’s been working off a panel of around 24 for most of the campaign and while he was boosted by the return of Ryan Burns, Jim McEneaney and Sam Mulroy for this assignment, numbers like that just won’t cut it in the modern game - at inter-county or even club level.
Whether it’s through apathy on the part of players and clubs or just that McGrath turned out to be the wrong man for the job, it’s almost impossible to see a realistic path out of the malaise for this regime.
Unsurprisingly, the manager was non-committal about his future, preferring to take stock over the coming days, but at the moment the odds would appear to be against the Down native seeking, or being granted, a second year at the helm.
This was the side’s ninth defeat from 10 league and championship outings, and in five of those 10 games the Reds suffered double-digit defeats.
Perhaps even more worryingly, given that Louth will be operating in Division 3 next term, all three of their Championship games this summer were against Division 4 teams. They lost to Carlow and Leitrim by 11 and 10 points respectively and London put up a massive 1-18 on them in Ruislip.
Prior to Saturday, 1-14 was the biggest score Leitrim had ever managed in the Qualifiers, but albeit with an extra man they racked up 25, with 21 coming from play.
McGrath did stress that Craven’s red card had a huge bearing on the game and if the opening stages were anything to go by he had a valid point, but not for the first time this season, in the face of adversity his team were found wanting.
They had been easily the better team in the opening quarter, cruising into a five-point lead, 1-5 to 0-3 and it should have been more, but for some wayward shooting and sheer bad luck.
They were three ahead - 1-5 to 0-5 - when Craven was sent off but Leitrim were just starting to express themselves when the red mist descended on the Geraldines’ defender. The corner back could argue that he didn’t make contact, but attempted headbutts, whether they connect or not, rarely end in anything less than a straight red card.
Slogging with 14 men on a hot, balmy evening is far from ideal, but after dominating the opening exchanges, staying in the game until at least the final quarter should not have been beyond Louth.
But when confidence and morale are so brittle, a red card or being denied a second goal by the width of an upright just beforehand can feel like the world caving in, and for the remaining 45 minutes or so, Louth played as if it had.
After capitalising on a dreadful Leitrim kick-out to fire home the only goal of the game after just three minutes, William Woods was desperately unlucky not to add a second on 25 minutes.
Shortly before that Conor Grimes also went agonisingly close, but his punch from the edge of the square drifted just wide.
Had Louth converted one of those gilt-edged chances and had a meatier lead to protect the game might have played out differently, but buoyed by the red card, Leitrim seized the momentum adjourning just a point in arrears, 1-7 to 0-9.
They picked up where they left off after the break, kicking five points without reply in the first eight minutes and anyone who had watched Louth in the National League or Leinster Championship this season knew