Mbitious Longford
creme and Brian White beside him had such a good Championship. Then up front Andy McDonnell and Adrian Reid were such good wing forwards and Mark Brennan was just a genius, so important to the working of that team. And the three guys inside, Shane and JP and Colm and then Darren Clarke coming in off the bench were so accurate and they had that bit of magic you want in inside forwards.’
After shocking Dublin in the other semi-final, Meath were up next. Mc- Donnell felt the Royals were
as everyone got to know each other and we really bonded as a group. We had a lot of debutantes that year and you don’t want young lads coming in and sitting on their own on the bus or being left out.
‘After the league one thing we had to address was the defence and while I didn’t want to play John O’Brien in the full back line we didn’t have a choice.
‘For me the find of the summer was Eamon McAuley.’
As well as introducing McAuley, freeing O’Brien up to play wingback, Fitzpatrick made an important addition to his backroom team in the shape of Armagh’s Peter McDonnell.
‘With Johnny McDonnell leaving after the Antrim game we wanted to bring someone else in and Martin McQuillan had worked with Peter in Armagh. He just happened to be free at that stage and it was a great move. I think he was up with us once before the Longford game and then came in officially the week after.
‘He’s very, very shrewd and a real thinker. He had some brilliant ideas and we wanted a coach to take sessions too. I’d always be prepared to bring people in that can help and improve the set-up. We also had Brian McEniff and John O’Leary in after that. My attitude is you treat it like a business and get the very best possible people around you - that would be my policy as chairman now too.
‘For me the only regret is that we dind’t go further that summer, but I firmly believe that I learned things that summer that will help me now as Chairman now too.’
In what was essentially a no-win situation, Louth did just that on a scorching hot day in Portlaoise. No-one really gave Glenn Ryan’s Longford a chance going into the contest, but Louth struggled to find their rhythm throughout the 70 minutes. A well executed Shane Lennon goal before half-time saw the Reds turn with a 1-6 to 0-6 advantage, but it was short-lived as the lively Francis McGee deceived Neil Gallagaher with a goal when he was attempting to tap over for a point. Longford even took the lead a few minutes later as a shock started to become a possibility, but Peter Fitzpatrick’s charges finished the match strongly, kicking the next five points in a row. They were also denied what looked like a stonewall penalty against Shane Lennon. Not a pretty game, but Louth did just enough to earn a quarter-final date with Kildare.
WHAT THEY SAID
Peter Fitzpatrick
‘We knew they’d get a wee spell, but we told the lads to keep their heads up if they did. We knew once we were dominating the midfield we’d come back at them again. I don’t think we ever looked in danger and I thought the goal they got was jammy. But maybe we needed that kick up the backside, and to be fair to the lads they kept plugging away and it was great to get that fourth point ahead at the end.’
Ray Finnegan
‘They came at us in the second half and the goal swung it in their favour for about five or ten minutes, but it was a lucky enough goal. He was shooting for a point and just caught Gally off guard. They got a point after the goal, but we put on a couple of points ourselves and it was important to do that. I thought we battled back well and thankfully got through it in the end.’
Adrian Reid
‘It was extremely hot. Any bit of running you did sapped the energy out of you. I know it was the same for both teams and the intensity was quite low at times because of the conditions. But we’re not blaming the conditions. That’s the weather for Gaelic football and we know we can play a lot better than that. We’re happy to get away with the win, but we know we have to improve for Kildare.’
Eamon McAuley
‘I’d love to play in Croke Park. One of my ambitions is to play in Croke Park, so if I get there I’ll be happy enough too. We’ll probably have to beat Kildare to get there this year, but we’ll have to make that happen now.’
LOUTH
Neil Gallagher; Eamon McAuley, Dessie Finnegan, Ronan Greene; Ray Finnegan, Mick Fanning, John O’Brien; Paddy Keenan 0-2, Brian White 0-3f; Andy McDonnell, Mark Brennan, Adrian Reid; Colm Judge 0-3 (0-1f), Shane Lennon 1-0, JP Rooney 0-2. Subs: Declan Byrne 0-1 for A McDonnell (50), Aaron Hoey for JP Rooney (65).