Louth’s road to redemption starts in Cork
IT’S been such a long time ago that I almost forgot about it.
The Louth senior team last took to the field 32 weeks ago when we were comprehensively beaten by Leitrim to all but confirm Division 4 football in 2021. Five league defeats in a row speaks for itself but it was the manner of that disappointing 3-14 to 1-12 home reversal which worried supporters most as they spilled out of Dowdallshill on that spring afternoon.
Rewinding back to my March 2nd column, one paragraph read:
‘What followed was one of the worst performances from a Louth team I can remember. There were no positives to take from our performance. We were beaten comprehensively in all areas of the pitch with no Louth player getting the better of his man or winning an individual battle …. Yesterday’s body language and general demeanour also suggested a lost confidence in the system they’re being asked to deploy …. These lads haven’t become bad players overnight. We’ve all seen most of them perform at much higher levels with their clubs in the recent past. But for the moment many of them appear lost or stifled in a game structure that is crumbling around them’.
With the benefit of hindsight my comments might appear a little harsh but our performance that day in Dundalk was shocking.
Leitrim are a team we would expect to beat at home.
Resources in terms of finances, playing population and quality are all stacked in our favour.
The fact we were played off the park by the Connacht minnows suggested all was not well in the camp.
However just ten days later the country went into lockdown and Louth’s league tribulations faded into insignificance.
All football activity suddenly came to a halt with intercounty players returning to club activity at the end of June to concentrate solely on club football for a period of three months.
What followed was the best quality Louth club championships for decades.
Having those county lads back fulltime with their clubs, without intercounty distractions has raised standards across the board.
The condensed fixture schedule at Darver allowed double my usual championship programme attendance so I feel well qualified to comment on the improved standard of both player and matches.
While we have many problems in the county still to fix, the player resources currently at our disposal should be sufficient to allow us comfortably compete at the upper end of Division Three or the lower end of Division Two.
The immediate challenge for players and management is a swift return to those, in my opinion, very attainable standards.
Our already confirmed relegation shouldn’t mean we have to play like a Division 4 team for the remainder of 2020. We are much better than that.
The process of returning to a higher standard of football must begin next Saturday in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
After spending some time recently in Monasterboice former Donegal boss Jim McGuinness surfaced in Salthill at the weekend taking a training session with the Galway footballers as they prepare for Sunday’s Division 1 clash with rivals Mayo. Galway sit top of the table with eight points and manager Padraic Joyce will be hoping McGuinness’ influence will add some steel and mental toughness to the Tribesmen.
With a halt being called to the GAA club season, most people have welcomed the return of intercounty football and hurling for the winter.
However if Covid-19 cases continue to rise, it’s very difficult to see the All-Ireland series being completed within the proposed two month time frame. Just look at what’s happening in elite professional sports like soccer and rugby.
Stephen Kenny’s Ireland side were hugely unfortunate to lose out in the Euro playoff semi-final in Bratislava against Slovakia last week.
Defeat on penalties was scant reward for an excellent 120 minute away performance where Covid 19 close contact protocols robbed us of attacking options Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah.
Several gilt edged opportunities were spurned both in normal and extra time before penalty misses by Alan Browne and Matt Doherty sealed our faith.
But in fairness to Kenny, he has the courage of his convictions and has been true to his word. While results have been mixed in his first four games, Ireland are playing a decent brand of football since the new manager’s arrival.
Our performance for the entire game in Slovakia was positive and on the front foot, something Ireland teams of the recent past would usually only start when we went a goal behind.