‘Wee’ are out to banish some painful memories of derby defeats

DERMOT Campbell has experienced plenty of heartache in Louth v Meath derbies over the years - both as a player and a spectator - and if called upon he’ll be using those painful memories to help inspire the Wee County to a rare success against their neighbours in Saturday’s All-Ireland series showdown.

Campbell missed the Leinster semi-final against Kildare after suffering what he described as a hamstring “twinge” against Wexford but came on as a sub for Niall Sharkey in the provincial decider in Croke Park and is available for the Inniskeen clash.

The Dreadnots clubman admitted that there’s always added spice when Meath are the opposition, and while the Wee County are coming off the back of a very good performance against Dublin they are well aware of the challenge Colm O’Rourke’s men will provide, having lost twice to them already this year.

“I suppose so,” he replied when asked if there was something special about a Louth v Meath game.

“But it’s probably more for the fans and yourselves to be talking that up. We just have to come down off that Leinster final and raise ourselves back up.

“Meath have had four or five weeks now and they probably got a bit of a break and then it ramps up again. We saw what Cork done last year. I thought they came out of the blocks really fast against us in Navan and that was a team who maybe had five or six weeks off.

“We got a few days recovery and we’re going to have to build nicely now into Meath. They bet us fair and square in the league and they bet us in the O’Byrne Cup as well, so we’ll need to be bringing a similar performance to what we did against Dublin and it’s going to be a dogfight.

“Meath never lay down against us in the league. We went four or five up and they showed serious grit and determination to stick with us and they eventually got out on the right side of the result which was unfortunate for us.

“It’s a special match. It’s going to be a different type of venue, but it’s something we’re really looking forward to. We have to park the Leinster final now as such, take the positives from it and build ourselves back up.”

Inevitably, the conversation turns to the infamous 2010 Leinster final and also the 2002 All-Ireland qualifier when a Graham Geraghty-inspired Meath struck two late goals to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Campbell travelled over to Croke Park from the Gaeltacht in Galway and he was amongst the Louth supporters in Navan too.

“I was 16 at the time, I think (in Croke Park), and all those players were my idols and we were so close to winning that final. Towards the end was pandemonium.

“But I’d often look back at that game, and without criticising anyone Louth had chances to close that out and probably should have shown more composure towards the end of that game.

“There was a ball hoofed away - I think we won it in the backs and it came back out to a Meath man.

“It was a heartbreaking moment, especially as a teenager, but it’s not something that we will be discussing or will be entering our circle of thoughts - the same with the Meath lads.

“There’s nobody involved from either team any more and it was just unfortunate we came out the wrong side that day, but I’ll never forget the train back to the Gaeltacht trying to pick myself up. I’d say I was swearing a few words as Gaeilge that day!

“Meath have had the upper hand, no doubt, in championship games. As a supporter back then it was tough, but we’re just focused on ourselves. It’s just about trying to build on what happened last week and we have to be on our A game because Meath have beaten us twice already and they’ve got a few lads back since the league as well, so they’ve strengthened their panel. I’m sure Colm O’Rourke and their management team will have been analysing us for the last couple of weeks.

“We’ll be up against it, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Campbell, though, doesn’t buy into the theory that there’s a different mindset going into the All-Ireland series this year, or that Louth’s chances of progressing from their group have been greatly enhanced compared to 12 months ago.

“You’re still in with two Division 1 teams,” he pointed out. “I know Monaghan got relegated, but (we’re in with) multiple Ulster winners, All-Ireland semi-finalists last year, and we’re in with the All-Ireland finalists last year as well.

“So I don’t think, just because we ran Dublin close and we put a big performance in, we should automatically be talking about getting out of the group.

“We have to just take Meath as the first game. We’re not looking past them. That performance we got last Sunday (against Dublin) - we put pressure and expectation on ourselves to win the Leinster final and ultimately we came up short. So we’ll be putting pressure and expectation on ourselves to win this week, put in a good performance, and back up some of the good things that happened, especially in the first half, last week.

“We won’t be worried about any added pressure. We just have to take the challenge of Meath head on. They’ve beaten us twice already, so they won’t be fearing us in any way.

“I wouldn’t say that anything of our mentality has changed. We got bet out of the gate by Dublin last year and then we went in and put in two solid performances against Cork and Mayo without coming out on the right side of the result.

“I think we really parked last year’s Leinster final. We looked back on it and saw such opportunities, areas of improvement in-game that we could have got more joy out of.

“(When) we came off that day we didn’t feel like we were 21 points worse off than Dublin, so we were able to regroup well enough.

“Now, ultimately, the first game was the big one for us against Cork and we came out the wrong side of the result, so it is so important to win that first game.”

Campbell was delighted to make his first Croke Park appearance off the bench against the Dubs, earning 20-plus valuable minutes of game time, but he acknowledged that Inniskeen will be a very different kind of venue and once again the fact that Louth are having to play a home game outside of their county boundaries has highlighted the issue of having no ground fit for purpose.

“To be fair, we understood that Ardee was just not viable for championship games,” he said. “We love Ardee, but unfortunately it just could not hold the crowd that Meath and Louth will pull.

“It’s not ideal not having a stadium at the minute. I really think we’ve just been unfortunate. The original figure (for the new stadium) was €12 million, I think, and then Covid hit and it’s doubled since then.

“It’s not something we think about too much as players. You are so much in the bubble of next training session, next game. We’re so grateful to Inniskeen for allowing us to use the pitch and it really is a top-class facility and it will add to the atmosphere.

“We hope, soon, that we’ll have a stadium, but that’s something for the county board and the executive and the GAA and John Horan and whatnot to try and push. To be fair to the county board, they seem to be doing their utmost, so we’ll leave that to them.”

On the field, though, things seem to be progressing and Campbell has seen the Wee County moving on an upward trajectory ever since making his debut against DCU in the O’Byrne Cup back in 2014 under Aidan O’Rourke, before returning to the panel in 2019.

“I probably came late to the county set-up. I was in with Colin Kelly for a while,” he recalled, “but to be honest I was down in college in Maynooth and it just wasn’t for me at the time. I just couldn’t commit.

“So I came in (again) under Wayne Kierans and I was delighted to be part of the set-up and it’s grown and grown year on year, from Wayne to Mickey (Harte) to Ger. We’ve really been making great strides and even the underage in the last couple of years has been growing well,

which is great.”

That has translated into a stronger senior squad and Campbell has seen that at first hand.

“We really have lots of options in every line and every department and it’s such a competitive squad to get into. If you’re missing two or three with injury, the next man comes in and he does his job, and then it’s about just trying to support them lads.

“If you’re the one to be given a starting jersey or to be given a jersey on the bench, you’ve to do your best. You’ve to do your best training during the week to push everyone on or to push the lads on who are going to be starting.

“We’re all fighting for that jersey and there’s no one resting on their laurels, there’s no one comfortable in their position and that’s testament to the talent that’s in the panel and also the commitment and dedication of everyone.

“It’s a great environment to be in and I think you can really see that in games where we’ve had a couple of injuries and it’s just the next man up and there hasn’t been a drop-off, so it’s really positive at the minute.”