LOUTH IN NEED OF A WEE LIFT
LOUTH’S ill-fated Allianz League campaign is like one of those plasters you would cry for as a kid to mend any old graze or scrape. You know the ones that are twice as sore to prise off than the pain of the cut itself?
The wounds inflicted by the Wee County’s inevitable relegation to Division 4 have long since heeled - but we’re still peeling back this damned plaster one millimetre at a time for what now seems like an eternity. 216 days to be exact. That’s how long it’s been since the Reds were supposed to travel to Pairc Ui Chaoimh to take on Division 3 table-toppers Cork for a game that was very likely to put us out of our misery.
Since then, there has always been a sliver of hope that the campaign might be voided, but the GAA has stuck to its guns and barring another last-minute COVID-19 intervention, the clash will go ahead this Saturday at 4pm.
The permutations are as depressingly stark as they were in mid-March.
Anything less than a win will see Louth officially relegated, and even if they do shock their unbeaten hosts, they’ll need Leitrim and Tipperary to lose too.
And all that only buys them another week, as they’ll then have to defeat Down at home, and pray that Leitrim and Tipp draw in Carrick-on-Shannon.
If it was a €1 accumulator, the pay-out would probably cover the mortgage.
And Wayne Kierans is under no illusions.
The manager knows that relegation is now pretty much inevitable, but that doesn’t mean his players will lie down and accept their fate without a fight - even if it is just a dying kick.
‘We know where we’re at, there’s no point in pretending otherwise, but we don’t want to completely write off these two games either,’ he says. ‘ We’re looking at them as two tough, competitive games against quality opponents; we want to get into a winning habit and we don’t want to finish [the league campaign] without a point.
‘Cork are nearly promoted, I think they need a point on Saturday, so they’ll be highly motivated, and I’m sure Down will be similar, they’re right up there too. They’re exactly the kind of games you want going into the Championship.’
Ironically, Louth would be doing their Leinster Championship opponents Longford a big turn by taking points off Cork or Down, as the midlanders currently sit second in the table, level on points with the Mourne men.
Louth have a bit to find between now and that provincial opener on November 1st. Longford had three points to spare when the sides met in Pearse Park at the end of January, but the scoreboard flattered Louth a bit, and their respective seasons have since taken very different trajectories.
But despite losing Declan and Ciaran Byrne and Ciaran Downey, Kierans does appear to have strengthened his panel, bringing in Anthony Williams (Dreadnots), Kevin Carr (Blues), Patrick Reilly (St Bride’s), Ciaran Keenan (Ardee St Mary’s), Conor Whelan (Naomh Mairtin) and Robbie Curran (Clan Na Gael), while Keenan’s clubmate Daire McConnon was also expected to link up prior to breaking his foot in the latter stages of the Mary’s county final defeat to Naomh Mairtin.
‘It’s unfortunate to lose the three lads,’ Kierans conceded. ‘Decky just couldn’t commit at this stage and Casey’s body needs a break, he played through the club championship with a few niggling injuries and he needs to get himself right.’
‘But we’re delighted with the lads we’ve brought in. Kevin, Anthony and Paddy have plenty of inter-county experience and Ciaran Keenan and Conor Whelan were superb for their clubs. I’d say that, along with Sam [Mulroy], who for me was the standout player, the two lads and Daire McConnon were arguably the best forwards on show this summer. I thought Robbie Curran was outstanding too.’
Like most counties, Louth’s preparations have been hampered by the club season, but Kierans isn’t complaining as between him and his selectors they saw every minute of what was a superb club championship season.
‘We came back around the middle of September, but it was a skeleton crew at first because you had lads involved in quarter-finals and relegation play-offs and then semi-finals and finals.’
In fact, Kierans didn’t manage to round up his full 32-man ensemble until last week, but they enjoyed a good win over Sligo in Mullingar on Thursday night.
LEITRIM LOUTH
Battling against relegation themselves, Leitrim all but kicked Louth through the trapdoor in Dowdallshill on a depressing afternoon for Wee County supporters.
Louth were second best from the throw-in and once they fell behind they never caught up, and didn’t really look capable of doing so.
The game’s outstanding player, Ryan O’Rourke, rewarded Leitrim’s early promise with a superb individual goal as the visitors adjourned with a 1-5 to 0-6 lead at half-time.
Louth improved significantly in the opening few minutes of the second period, but it was short-lived as Leitrim opened a 10-point lead with goals from Keith Beirne and O’Rourke.
Louth hopes were briefly raised when Burns slotted a penalty and Leitrim were reduced to 10 men for 10 minutes, but Leitrim cruised over the finish line to give themselves a real shot at survival.
LOUTH: Fergal Skeeky; Dan Corcoran, Dermot Campbell, James Craven; Eoghan Callaghan, Emmet Carolan, John Clutterbuck; Tommy Durnin 0-1, Conor Early; Ciaran Downey 0-1, Bevan Duffy 0-1, Conall McKeever; Sam Mulroy 0-2, Declan Byrne 0-1, Ryan Burns 1-4 (1-0 pen, 0-2f). Subs: Liam Jackson 0-1 for Early (43), Ger McSorley (0-1) for Clutterbuck (56), Conor Grimes for Byrne (56), Ciaran Byrne for Burns (63).