Louth and Proud

My final post

2014-05-17T08:14:00.000+01:00

Oh, you must be lost...

Not to worry

Click here to join the revolution

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LOUTHANDPROUD

1 day to Go and Reasons to be Cheerful:

2014-05-16T15:21:00.001+01:00

Right so from yesterday I've built them up; now, to take them down....

Here's How...

Reasons to be Cheerful

Defensive Match Ups i'd like to see.

With Mick named Midfield and Heslin named full forward, As Mick will follow him we automatically have an odd man now at the back.

That odd man is Crilly....which we want and would be to our advantage also.He has played that position the most and is the best player we have to play that sweeping/setting up the attacks role.

That leaves us with Dessie Finnegan

Dessie can play out and give us presence at 6.
I also think Dessie Dolan will start out there, he has in recent weeks played out there challenge in matches that switch would suit would suit us and our Dessie perfectly.
Gary O'Hare on McCormack
McCormack then play inside, thats where he is most potent, a lively player but O'Hare is a cornerback by trade and there on Merit.

Jobser on Egan
Jobser is comfortable either wing or cornerback. Also he can balance between being tight enough and going forward also. This is crucial to put Egan under pressure.

The rest of the match ups are straight forward....

Pop on Glennon
Pops has picked him up before, familiar with his game and has done well on him in the past too.

Mick on Heslin
as mentioned on Wednesday whereever Heslin is Mick Goes with him either full forward or around the middle.
Reido on Martin
Similar to Pop, Reido has picked up Martin numerous times before and has done well on the fellow left footer also, has a real pace advantage also.

Platform
Reilly and PK gives us a nice centre field pairing and a perfect platform. We want Duffy on Paddy, he is not near as mobile as our man.
While the more defensive minded Reilly is mobile enough to pick up the other debutant Connellan.

This gives the initiative and a launch pad for PK, Reido and Crilly especially to set up attack from the midfield area by running the ball.

Top assignment

PAUL SHARRY has to be STOPPED end of...

Cap locks used for extra emphasis on the importance Paul Sharry is.

Decie drops out the wing, We know.
But it is the responsiblity of Him, White and Andy to communicate as a half forward line together and not let him settle on the ball or be a Westmeath hero come Saturday night.
He is that important.

Twin Towers INSIDE
The tight Dimensions of Cusack park means only two players can operate in there anyway and what better combination of Lenno and Maguire. They've played inside numerous times and as a team we are well used to that system. Lenno should be fresh and right up to speed and speaking of speed there isn't a faster forward in Ireland than Derek Maguire!
It really gives us variety to our play,
1. we can launch quick high ball in,
2. we work it into them,
or
3.we use them as platform for our runners from deep.
exciting.
Other Reasons to be Cheerful

TemperMental
Their golden boy and best player is John Heslin. Heslin's achilles heel is his temperament. We have a real chance to frustrate him so lets wind him up....either by knocking him off his game physically or mentally or both. We know he's had an injury in the build up so he's not going to be 100% so if get on top of him inside, don't give away close free's that will give him confidence early on and his shaky temperament could get the better of him.

Mullingar Factor
Home Advantage for Westmeath yeah, but all that brings really is extra pressure like I emphasised yesterday. Besides, we play better outside of Drogheda anyway!! We travelled away on our opener last year and won also.
As well as that I know I keep harping on about the tight pitch in Mullingar but it will really suit or style of play clogging up the defense, counterattack and two men inside!

AOR
Love him or loathe him as our manager, you can not take away that we are a highly professional outfit under him. Aidan brings superb organisation and discipline to our team. and with a near full strength side(Judge) for the first time this year we will not lie down easy.

and

The NEW SITE goes live tomorrow!

Operation beat Westmeath

2014-05-15T11:28:00.001+01:00

Optimism around the county about Saturday night's game is not good so I'm going to take matters into my own hands. Over the course of the day. I'm going to give our lads a helping hand and hopefully by doing so raise morale around the county.

With three simple Steps,

1. Build up the opposition
Worryingly so, this is quite an easy thing to do...

The Spine of their team is of real quality and you can really see why they were in Division 1 this season. I'll go through it now.

Goalkeeper:Darren Quinn

Solid goalkeeper, bided his time as understudy to Gary Connaughton over the years. On the small side but a superb Shot stopper and varies his kickouts too

Full Back:Kieran Gavin

Quite simply, one of the best full backs about. He'd start in majority of teams in Ireland. Lenno is really going to be on his game to cause him problems.
Centre Back: Paul Sharry

He's their captain and its not hard to see why. He is their leader...he drives them forward from half back and is exceptionally at soloing the ball forward on his left foot. Stop him and we have a great chance.

Midfield: David Duffy and Ray Connellan

As they say in basketball, as well as being 6foot 5 David Duffy is long or as we say in the GAA he togs out big. His presence will be felt in the air and Connellan is a ball player left footed. They make for a nice midfield partnership.

Forty:Ger Egan

Egan is a workhorse and a really good one too...he's physical and will hunt down our half backs any chance he gets. Physically imposing and good from long distance too.

Full Forward: John Heslin

Their golden boy,although there are doubts surrounding his fitness there is no way he won't start! If we concede free's he will punish us. Classy operator.

Supporting cast is not bad either
Wing backs Dolan and Foley are very comfortable going forward especially Dolan.
Old stagers Dessie Dolan and Denis Glennon in the corners will look to give the side guidance and settle any nerves. Dessie is superb at winning free's.
Finally I think Kevin Maguire is a top corner back,I remember him in the Leinster semi in 2010, tight and pacy.

On paper they really have a nice balanced look about their side. We've no chance in hell do we!?

2. Crank up the pressure
Well, I can say no more about the quality personell we face come Saturday night. They will enter the game as firm favorites alone because of it.

They also have played in Division 1 this season, regardless if they lost every game, they faced quality opposition week in week out. Whoever says league form goes out the window is not from Westmeath. They faced the best footballers in Ireland every week where as we got relegated to Division 3!

They are at home, tight intimidating crowd, the fact that it is on a Saturday night means the game will pick up even more partisans who fancy something to do on a Saturday night. What better than watch their home team beat Louth out the gate.

eh?

and

3.Wind up their fans
We all know, the most annoying fans of our generation are One Directioners. It just so happens that a band member from One Direction hails from Mullingar. So why not annoy him, Westmeath fans and one directioners. by sabotaging One direction lyrics with the word Louth or Lu instead?

Copy the image and RT to as many of them twerps as possible!

oh me oh my and there is another one too!
the most annoying of all Westmeath People, Bressie!
I made one for him too!

Seems to me the only famous people in Westmeath are fluffy popstars. isn't that right Westmeath fans?

thats all for now folks thanks for reading and joining in

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2 days to go

Louth Team Named TALKING Points

2014-05-14T10:10:00.001+01:00

Firstly, I like the team, I like the thinking behind it...that thinking behind it will be discussed throughout the day.

Talking Points
1.Mick in the middle

This for me is a very interesting talking point as the selection gives a slight indication of how management has approached this game.

Mick Fanning is an out and out defender for me, he doesn't even play in the middle for his club so for me his role in the middle will be as a stopper. I don't mean plugging a hole or stopping runner's coming through like an NFL player but sacrificing his own game to do a pure and simple man marking job on John Heslin. He's their most influencial player management have identified that Mick will literally be following their orders all over Cusack Park Saturday night.
Good selection point: best candidate for the job as if Heslin starts in the full forward line like he can sometimes Mick can easily slot in there.
Bad Selection point: The knock on effect on the other out and out midfielders in the squad.

2. NO Burns

In no way am I saying Ryan Burns is saviour of Louth football and we need him in the starting line up for louth to win, a fine young footballer and young man to boot his time WILL come, I don't doubt that for a minute.
Also I'm not going to throw any pressure on his shoulders by raging about his omission from the starting line up but I'd liked to have started him on Saturday night.

Good Selection point:Having a youngster in the squad is well and good for his development but for me and the best for Louth would have been to start him. Let him get into the game straightaway; get a taste of the pace from the get go.

Bad selection point: Championship is a squad game nowadays and impact from the bench has swung games in the modern era...look no further than all-Ireland champions Dublin and their use of Kevin McManamon. Derek Maguire starts ahead of Burns and for me Maguire would have been better than of those two coming off the bench. Maguire is a proven impact player, last few minutes we are looking to the bench to close out or win the game OR dare I say it, a silly black card! We can't expect a minor debutant to do it for us, not a fair situation for him and his development.

3. Gary O'Hare comes in from the wilderness
What I mean by wilderness is, the last game in the league against Meath, O'Hare didn't start nor come on as a sub.
In between league and championship in called the wilderness in my eyes as you are just training, prepping and playing challenge matches .(we played Antrim, London & Armagh)

Bad selection point:Pop and John O'Brien are our two tighest markers, I'd have had them in the full back line.

Good Selection point: He must have performed really well in this wilderness time for AOR to bring him back into the starting fifteen. That also shows he's in good form which is positive considering he might have to be picking up the likes of Dessie Dolan, Alan Giles, Ray Connellan, Denis Glennon or Callum McCormack come Saturday night.
Also, with flyers and ultra mobile players like James Dolan and John Egan on the Westmeath half forward line JOBser's tightness would be better suited out there especially if O'Hare is playing well anyway.

4. Eight defensive players named?
Okay, modern football is not all about positions and simply a case of forwards and backs I know that but, there is always a but; when it is blantantly obvious that down on these lads current GAA CV they are known as defenders. So for that reason I can say there are 8, over half the team that is named to start defenders by trade.
The 6 named defenders along with Mick Fanning and Patrick Reilly.

Bad Selection point: We will have to work hard for scores because you could say, the only natural forwards named to start is Shane Lennon and Derek Maguire. Two!!
(Andy, Whitezer,Byrne are not out and out forwards)
Good Selection point: We will go into this game armed with defensive roles and marking tasks meaning we will be well prepped and organised and hopefully hard to break down. Clogging up a tight Cusack Park pitch could be the recipe for success as it could suit our counter attacking style of play.
5. Decie Byrne gets a welcome nod
It is always touch and go with Decie in this current management regime.Dropped off the panel and didn't play last year, taken off in games he shouldn't have been in the league. So when the team was announced it was a welcome relief to see he's made the starting 15.

In my opinion he is one of the best 15 players in the county but what will he bring to the party on Saturday night?

Good Selection point: Although named at 15, he'll play on the wing. This is a well known secret so much so when typing out the team when it was named I put him at 12 and not 15!
He can kick points from this distance and he'll be mobile enough to help around the middle of the field. Where he will have to track the Impressive runs of James Sharry from deep hence easing PK and Fannings workload.

Bad Selection Point: As I've already mentioned his relationship with AOR means Decie is constantly on trial and in fear of being subbed!
However, after the week he's had I think that will count for very little.

Thanks for reading

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Louth Team to Play Westmeath saturday

2014-05-13T23:17:00.000+01:00

hmmmmmm AOR has really thrown a few spanners in the works

1 Neil Gallagher
2 Pop Rath
3 Dessie Finnegan
4 Gary O'Hare
5 John O'Brien
6 Derek Crilly
7 Adrian Reid
8 PK
9 Mick Fanning
10 Patrick Reilly
11 Brian White
12 Declan Byrne
13 Andy McDonnell
14 Shane Lennon
15 Derek Maguire

Will go through it in more detail tomorrow, but WOW

mick in the middle,
no Burns,
Gary O'Hare comes in from the wilderness
8 defensive players named
and
Decie Byrne gets a welcome nod

4 Head of operations Manager

2014-05-13T17:02:00.000+01:00

It's nice to mix up the blog a little and allow your eyes a wee rest and instead give some of you an informative nostalgic video.

Having decided on a change of manager at the start of the season Westmeath county board got rid of Pat Flanagan and chose former Wexford Manager Paul Bealin.
(He has managed Carlow too)

For me he will always be remembered as the big, bustling, Dublin all-Ireland winning midfielder.
For his poignant playing career moment Skip to 5.25 in the video below...

It is by far one of the best struck missed penalties of all time!
Westmeath possess a number of fine midfielders in their panel no better than John Heslin, that could be the sole reason why he was brought on board in the first place.

Hopefully he's coaching them how to take peno's too!

you remember it?

From tomorrow the pace really picks up on the blog...I'll be naming my possible team ahead of it's announcement, going through their team too!!!

Enjoy
and

Thanks for ~~reading~~ watching
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5Black Moanday

2014-05-12T17:49:00.001+01:00

Aidan O'Rourke's opinion on the black card certainly hasn't waivered. As recent as last week, AOR has come out against the black card rule with yet another argument.

Just google 'aidan o'rourke + black card' and you'll see....

Actually, I'll do it for you. click here

See now what I am on about??

As a former member of the defenders union, AOR's really sticking up for them.

My point is....Does this really help us?
Are refs going to be more fearful or spiteful when making a split second decision against us? In the back of their mind and going into the game, they will know the Louth manager opposes the rule will that negativity could hamper their judgement.

I really hope this is not going to come back to haunt us come Saturday night,on the otherhand AOR could have pulled off a masterstroke before the ball has even been thrown in and jedi mind tricked the refs into giving us none! here's hoping!

Anyway that's my monday moan.

Thanks for reading

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Back to the Future in 6 days time

2014-05-11T10:00:00.000+01:00

Allow me to give you a welcome break from the premier league or worse, the Giro d'italia and take you back to the future.

In recent seasons we've played our future Leinster opponents Westmeath quite alot, but the last time we played was the opening round of the Division 2 league in 2013.

We were beaten that day and I have the recap of the game below or here in it's original format if you click the link.

Just a recap on the recap, it was also Superbowl weekend and David Akers missed a field goal for the 49ers which meant the Baltimore ravens won.

Our match was in Mullingar and was riddled with fussy refering. Gary O'Hare was supposed to make his debut but he missed the bus and didn't start. PK and Ray were injured and only came in as late subs.

Long story short, We lost the game having been on top and worringly after reading it a few traits still remain to this day!

Enjoy and Thanks for reading
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Monday, 4 February 2013

WestMeath Recap

Over the weekend, if you are a sports fan like me you seen how momentum affects sports teams either the Rugby game on Saturday or the Super Bowl in early hours of the morning.

and.......

if you were a Louth fan like me you seen at close hand how to NOT deal with Momentum.

1. When you have it keep it

In the first half we had a slight wind but, what really pinned Westmeath back was the aggressiveness our forwards. Their intensity hassled the Westmeath defenders coming out into turnovers and eventually giving away possession.

One mans intensity is another man's black book and yellow card!

That man was referee Gary McCormack.

He singlehandly dropped the intensity of the game and our tackling by booking Conor Raffety and the temperamental Colm Judge who, had to be replaced by David Reid after 25 minutes because of it.

Once that was sanitised out of our game by the referee, we lost our main source of possession, as we were non existent in the midfield without Paddy Keenan (who did not start) and they were alot sharper picking up the breaks.

During those high octane minutes, Westmeath simply were not up to the task. Shane Lennon caused their full back line a whole host of problems by either scoring himself or providing.

He caught a super direct high ball and then layed it off perfectly to the on rushing Adrian Reid who composed himself to finish to the net.

A free kick of his, hit the post and came back out to Andy who's shot was blocked but Colm Judge finished after a goal mouth scramble.

Directly or Indirectly Lenno was involved in 2-2 of Louth's first half tally of 2-4. (It might actually be 2-3! because, I can't remember who layed the ball off for David Reid's point.)

Just like you thought it couldn't get any better, Zebo gets a try!! sorry, wrong game!

Dorian Harte gets sent off for striking Jim McEneaney!

Super! We're a man up and at the time, 5 points up. Plus, in general play we were playing well.

2. Don't let them have it or give them hope!

Just before half time we gave Westmeath hope.....

Their Dominance around midfield was coming to fruition and combined with a lack of intensity and indiscipline on our part, They were getting alot of possession and we let them score 4 out of the last 5 points, which meant they went in at half time, only 3 points down.

The Half time break Just like the SuperBowl blackout, allowed them time to refocus.

That indiscipline would force management to take off Pop Rath who was on a yellow card and was also marshaling Denis Glennon expertly. Gary O'Hare came in for his Debut.

What really told a tale was Westmeath storming out of the dressing room for the second half about 5 minutes before Louth resurfaced.

Pats Duo Paddy Keenan and Ray Finnegan also were introduced at half time. Ray at half forward for yellow card victim Conor Rafferty and Ronan Carroll was the scapegoat for poor all round midfield performance.

3. If they do gain it break it.

I think the addition of these two, actually relaxed the rest of the team even more.
'AH PK and Ray are on we'll win it now' Wrong.

So they now had a major focus for the second half.....they had to go for it....while we were trying to hang on to a lead.

Such a dangerous thing to do in any code.....
The whole second half Ireland hung on and the Baltimore Ravens did the same.

but, they both won why?

They broke their momentum by either defensively stopping them till time ran out or taking whatever chances that came their way.

We failed to do both.

We didn't trust the system, gave up our tackling and just invited them on to us time and time again.

Management made Dessie Finnegan the extra man,and instructed him to act as a sweeper in front of their full forward line. Westmeath copped this and their running game made Dessie basically redundant back there.

So effectively it was 14 on 14!

Starting from their half backline, Paul Sharry, James Dolan drove forward time and time again also, the introduction of Dessie Dolan meant Glennon came out and he was able to run at us too.

This caused us a plethora of problems resulting in panic.

We forced passes, ran into trouble, got isolated and turned over, lacked composure basically.

We needed to stop them at the source but a combination of bad refereeing and know how on our part meant we couldn't break the tide.
Plus,We kicked balls out to them over and over again not once with the extra man did we kick a short one.

Despite all this, we had chances......but, we didn't take them.

Jim missed a free he (and David Akers ) would score in his sleep on the 21 yard line and Kevin Rogers had goal chance I’m sure he dreamt off to get on his Louth debut. The ball broke off Lennon into the Malachi's man's path made for a left footer like himself to finish....unfortunately he dragged it across the face of goal.

These misses were crucial and badly needed to break their momentum and keep our noses in front.

Conclusion

From the 25th minute on, We showed a major lack of composure all round but, I will conclude and say we have played worse against Westmeath and won. Last year in Navan and haggardstown and the Division 3 league final the year before, both resulted in short summers.

We showed glimpses of a gameplan and of which, looks potentially successful.

It is a learning curve, if we get into this position again we'll know what to do.

Hopefully it will be in the summertime.

Until then, on to the next one....Galway. Drogheda.Sunday.

Extended Louth Squad7

2014-05-10T10:00:00.000+01:00

With a full week to go until we do Battle against Westmeath in Mullingar on Saturday night next.

Here is a comprehensive list of the lads that could go into this battle for us.

Goalkeepers 2
Neil Gallagher
Shane McCoy
Defenders 13
Pop Rath
Dessie Finnegan
Mick Fanning
Eoghan Lafferty
Adrian Reid
Derek Crilly
Darren O’Hanlon
Liam Shevlin
Gary O’Hare
John O’Brien
Keith McLaughlin
Patrick Reilly
Gerry Hoey

Midfielders 5
Paddy Keenan
Brian Donnelly
John Kermode
James Stewart
Robert Brodigan

Forwards 13
Bevan Duffy
Brian White
Shane Lennon
Derek Maguire
Ryan Burns
Andy McDonnell
Eoin O’Connor
Cian Doyle
Conor Rafferty
Shane O’Hanlon
Conor Grimes
Kevin Rogers
Colm Judge

This extended panel list has seven players from this years under21 team.
Eoghan Lafferty, Patrick Reilly, Robert Brodigan, James Stewart and the whole under21 full forward line of Cian Doyle, Conor Grimes and Ryan Burns.

The Pats have the most Players on the list with 5.
PK, Eoin O'Connor, Dessie Finnegan, Eoghan Lafferty and Darren O'Hanlon.

A nice spread of 20 teams from all grades are represented also.

All in all, It is a mightily impressive list of 33 names and as far as I know only 26 can make the matchday squad. With Judge the only known injured player on that list competition for a place on the squad nevermind team looks cutthroat!

Thanks for reading

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Better L8 than never

2014-05-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

Darren Clarke left the squad a few weeks back and Colm Judge’s ankle injury means he’ll be out and I mentioned yesterday the exodus of Stephen Campbell from the Louth squad has been a blow to morale in the camp but I didn’t mention the fact these withdrawals has forced AOR’s hand a wee bit to freshen the squad up.

This is exciting, New blood is always exciting.

So how has AOR freshened up the squad?

Newbie’s Ryan Burns and Eoghan Lafferty have been two of the fresh names involved in recent weeks and what makes those two names all the more impressive is, that they are still in School!
Burns was a part of the impressive Ardee Community School this year and Lafferty played Lennon cup for Bush.

More about Lafferty, He was a Louth minor last season, Corner back for the Under21’s this season and has also played Ice Hockey for Ireland.(I’m not making the last fact up, I swear)

Two great talents and two of the reasons for this Trivia time question.
‘Who was the last Player to play for Louth that was still in Secondary School?’

Send your Answers/Guesses to
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9 days, two go

2014-05-08T09:42:00.002+01:00

Do you want the Good News or the bad news?

Bad?

Okay, here we go....

I’m sorry to say but reports have emerged that Rookie forward Stephen Campbell has left the Louth panel to play ball in Chicago for the summer.

Rookie Campbell

Losing any player is a blow to his panel and his loss a real pity as Campbell was pushing really hard come the end of the league, featuring in the penultimate games and impressing too.

As well as that, Campbell is a wee bit of an inspiration to club footballers throughout the county as he came from trials at the start of the year right through to now. So its a pity he doesn’t get a championship appearance to cap off a fine debut season.

However a summer of topping up a good old Irish farmer tan in the US beckons for the Naomh Martin man.

Campbell won’t be alone however, He’ll be joined over there by none other than Togher’s finest, William Woods who, has also decided to play ball in the windy city as opposed to windy Annnagassan this summer, rather him than me mind!

Best of luck to the two lads who, I guess, will be the better for it when they return (the business end of the club championship more than likely)

Right, The good news.

Oh the good news is....Tiz only 9 days to go till the big game and the New LouthandProud site!

Thanks for reading

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Special An10uncement

2014-05-07T14:46:00.003+01:00

Today is the day the Championship Countdown Begins on the blog.....

As you all know, Louth Play Westmeath in the Leinster Championship on the 17th of May (this month) in Mullingar what you don’t know is that it coincideswith launch of the NEW and improved (hopefully) LouthandProud site

Now that you now that, save it in your diaries and in the meantime....

Tune in and join me every day now, until the game as we build up to both events.

I’ll have the usual blog with analysis on Louth Team, Player news and much much more.

10 days and counting.....

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Louth League Tables

2014-05-03T15:01:00.001+01:00

Division 1

@LouthProud	Team	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
1	St Patricks	4	4	0	0	66	41	25	8
2	Mattock Rangers	4	2	1	0	68	62	6	5
3	O’Connell’s	4	2	0	2	49	41	8	4
4	Dreadnots	3	2	0	1	42	35	7	4
5	Geraldines	3	2	0	1	52	56	-4	4
6	Dundalk Gaels	4	2	0	2	49	53	-4	4
7	Kilkerley Emmet’s	4	2	0	2	46	52	-6	4
8	O’Raghallaighs	4	1	1	2	50	52	-2	3
9	Sean O’Mahony’s	3	1	0	2	35	33	2	2
10	Newtown Blues	4	1	0	3	51	55	-4	2
11	Cooley Kickhams	3	1	0	2	41	4	-4	2
12	Naomh Martin	4	1	0	3	38	62	-24	2

Division 2

@LouthProud	Team	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
1	St Fechins	4	3	0	1	66	43	23	6
2	St Mochta’s	4	3	0	1	58	50	8	6
3	Oliver Plunketts	4	3	0	1	60	56	4	6
4	St Joseph’s	4	3	0	1	61	63	-2	6
5	Clan Na Gael	4	2	0	2	59	48	11	4
6	St Brides	4	2	0	2	63	71	-8	4
7	St Marys	4	1	1	2	68	53	15	3
8	Hunterstown Rovers	4	1	0	3	61	63	-2	2
9	Roche Emmets	2	1	0	1	30	37	-7	2
10	Glyde Rangers	2	1	0	1	27	36	-9	2
11	Dundalk Young Irelands	4	1	0	3	54	78	-24	2
12	Na Piarsaigh	4	0	1	3	51	60	-9	1

Division 3

@LouthProud	Team	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
1	Westerns	4	4	0	0	85	46	39	8
2	St Finbarrs	3	3	0	0	34	26	6	6
3	Naomh Malachi	4	3	0	1	65	45	20	6
4	St Kevins	4	3	0	1	53	48	5	6
5	Lannleire	3	2	0	1	76	34	42	4
6	Glen Emmets	3	2	0	1	58	29	29	4
7	Sean McDermotts	4	2	0	2	42	50	-8	4
8	Stabannon Parnells	3	1	0	2	40	44	-4	2
9	John Mitchells	3	1	0	2	37	47	-10	2
10	Wolfe Tones	3	1	0	2	35	55	-20	2
11	St Nicholas	4	1	0	3	31	72	-41	2
12	Dowdallshill	4	0	0	4	51	60	-9	1
13	Cuchulainn Gaels	4	0	0	4	35	87	-52	0

Friday night lights/Dusk

2014-05-02T21:54:00.001+01:00

Division 1
SOM 0-10 Cooley 1-12
N Blues 1-10 Pats 2-11
Dreadnots 2-10 Gaels 10
Mattock 2-9 Martins 0-9
Kilkerley 2-10 O’Raths 2-7
O’Connells 1-10 Gers 0-16

Division 2
Brides 2-14 Naps 1-13
Mochs 0-15 DYI 0-7
Clans 2-13 Plunkets 0-9
Joes 2-8 Marys 0-13
Fechins 1-14 HTown 1-7

Division 3
Cu Gaels 1-10 Mitchells 1-16
Tones 1-5 Kevins 1-15
Glen Emmets 1-14 Seans 0-6
Nicks 2-11 DHill 3-6
Malachi’s 1-14 Stabannon 1-9

Louth Minors 'Class of 2014'

2014-05-02T15:23:00.001+01:00

End of year reports will read. 2 games, 2 losses. Harsh. but fair.

through the wire

It just didn't happen this year for this particular bunch of minors. They had home advantage in both games but in the end,, counted for very little. In truth how many times have our lads played in Gaelic Grounds even? very few i'd imagine.
On paper the management team looked impressive but maybe one of the selectors on their own might have fared better.

Regardless of managers or home advantage it is down to what the players do on the pitch so what now for the class of 2014?

5 are still eligible for next season Kevin Carr, Paul Matthews, Tadgh McEneaney, Ryan Rooney, Matthew Corcoran can play again next season and more excitingly all of whom impressed this season.
Ryan Burns, Dean Maguire are certainly two to look out for and it is no surprise both have featured prominently for their club sides in recent seasons.

This needs to be an initiative either selecting or developing our minors and under 17's in the future. They need to be blooded in adult football be it junior or involved in adult training with their club.

Our underage structure's is not producing strong enough all round talent at inter county level. Sure, we are producing talented players but they don't know to play a variety of ways. For example, when they are faced with coming from behind in a game they don't know who to....When we need to work a goal again,we don't how to.

Time after time when faced with these senario's our decision making is and has been terrible. This is down to our underage structures. Every year most grades comes down to 3 teams or in some cases one!
It is very predictable and in fact too easy for these developing players.Hence they become sheltered and don't know play a number of ways.

Get them in with their clubs where they'll be forced out of their comfort zones and when it comes to inter county underage level they'll be more prepared and have a better chance of winning.

thoughts?

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Minor Redemption

2014-05-01T14:32:00.001+01:00

Tonight in Drogheda.

Our lads take the first step in the back door of the Leinster Minor championship.

The time 7:15pm
The opposition Longford

They've faced them already this season in the Leinster league and they beat us.....however tonight for us is about performance and getting the basics right.

Do this and we have a chance.

Best of luck lads

Minor Matters 2014 Reflection

2014-04-22T14:13:00.003+01:00

Disappointment was not the word leaving Drogheda Saturday evening, a humiliating 13 point defeat at home to Wexford.
It was nearly as bad as 2005 when the Kilkenny minors beat us.

But how?

Looking at the squad beforehand,
the management team’s experience
and
even the home advantage.
I could do nothing but tip us to win.

But, in fact, all these factors actually went against us on the day.

It can sometimes happen to young players, it’s a big day they’ve looking forward to for so long and when you want to perform the most it just doesn’t happen.

These factors instead of relieving pressure actually compound to sap the energy from our talented lads legs hence the lack of intensity we showed.

It’s common for young players to think, sometimes in the actual game we should be beating Wexford!! and we’re not!! You could see the panic setting in on Saturday. The more they tried and the more things didn’t work and as a result it takes away all their confidence which then affected their decision making and we left with forcing things such as missing goal chances and kicking away simple free’s.

The Wexford lads with no pressure on their shoulders found it easier to get into the game and do the simple things and their confidence grew and grew. Quite simply, the opposite happened our lads.

These lads will be back though, all good players that every club in the county would love to have, they’ll learn from the game and most importantly the occasion and bring it to Longford on the 30^th of this month in Drogheda.

Just wait and see.

Sidenote: Hunterstown Rovers have a gem in Ryan Burns as we all know but Goalkeeper Niall Carrie from the same club also has a Bright future. Matthew Corcoran also, who I think can play again next season was highly impressive on the day.

Minor Matters2014

2014-04-18T13:21:00.000+01:00

Louth Versus Wexford
3pm Gaelic Grounds
Saturday 19^th April

Minor football is the pinnacle of pure underage football. As the naivety is still there and there is plenty of time for their young minds to be filled with cynicism but for now the talent has yet to be moulded. How a player fairs at this age moulds their outlook on football forever. Hopefully this bunch of lads can put their talent to good use and step into adult football positively.

They certainly have the talent to take that positive step.

Just look at the forward power of Dean Maguire, Tadgh McEneaney, Ryan Rooney, Darragh Lafferty and I haven’t even mentioned a certain Ryan Burns yet. This alone gets me excited about this certain crop.

I like the low key build up of this bunch, they’ve been working away very hard with low expectations as all Louth minor teams do but this bunch seem to do their talking on the pitch that to me shows this squad possess winners. 6 Gers lads who won the minor championship are on the squad, a number of the Ardee CS team that swept all before them are also involved so my hunch is right. If it was me, I’d have more of them involved, even one Marys lad seems low considering they were in the two minor finals last year but I’m not the manager.

Who is the management team you ask?

The management team is made up of Eamonn Dunne, Ken Rooney and Eugene Judge and they know their football that’s a given, but they know their Louth underage football having put in the years at their clubs. A sign of this is seen in the drafting of players who were not there before but have been playing well enough to break into these dreaded development squads which some many rarely do or are given the chance to. So big thumbs up to the management to make those calls!

4 of the squad played last year (Maguire, Lenehan, Burns and Lafferty) who were narrowly beaten by Dublin in the first round and eventually knocked out by none other than Wexford!

So hopefully revenge will served Saturday evening...and I for one expect it will.

Matthew Corcoran, Robbie Lynch, Cian Smyth, Paddy Geoghan, Niall Craven, Jack Traynor (Geraldines)
Kevin Carr, James Carter, John Connolly, Conor Moore (Newtown Blues)
Dean Maguire, Jordan O’Donoghue, Ryan Malone(DYI)
Niall Carrie, Ryan Burns (Hunterstown)
Peter Thornton, James Loughran (Cooley)
David Lennon, Ultan Larney (Mochta’s)
Conor Early, Adam Brodigan (Plunketts)
Cathal Clarke (Mattock)
Darragh Lafferty (Pats)
Paul Mathews (Fechins)
Tadgh McEneaney (Kilkerley)
Stephen Coleman (Clans)
Sean Halpenny (Stabannon)
Conor Lenehan (St Finbarrs)
Ciaran O’Brien (O’Connell’s)
Ryan Rooney (Marys)

NFL Louth and Meath Preview

2014-04-05T12:00:00.000+01:00

Lets.
Make.
it.
Happen.

Great Day in 2012

Things to Expect:
-A row perhaps?

NFL Preview Louth and Dun na nGall

2014-03-27T10:24:00.000+00:00

Ballybofey, Sunday 30th March 2 pm

Our Clarkie getting the better of a certain Karl Lacey

Trip Down Memory Lane
2006 league final, one of the most underrated days in Louth GAA.
We beat a fancied Donegal side in the Division 2 final after a replay. They were two great displays and quality games of football.

6 Donegal players went on to win an All-Ireland in 2012 from that series of games.

so more of the same on Sunday please.

Thanks for reading.

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Championship Draws!!

2014-03-20T08:45:00.000+00:00

Tonight is the night you can start to really dream about winning one these cups below!

Draw's take place at 7pm in Darver,Tonight. Best of luck.

Thanks for reading.

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Galway Positives

2014-03-19T10:57:00.000+00:00

Here’s the test results from Sunday’s game:

All Positives

1. Building from the back, without Lennon inside we had no quick ball option like all top sides we are now learning to be patient. Building effectively, looking for the support player always and recycling and switching the play. It took us 5 games to get there but, we are there now.

2. Aswell as this, Reido and Crilly joined the attack with great effect and they should always be looking to do so…especially Crilly…when these two play with freedom Louth usually play well.

3. The intro’s of Shane O’Hanlon for his debut and John Kermode were not to be sniffed at both had positive effects on the game. Great boost to the manager and squad competition.

4. Not one but two goals Sunday!! It’s a great lift to the crowd and for that reason I’m glad we broke our duck at home. Nice for the supporters to leap out of their seats with joy!

5. PK, virtuoso performance. Having him in this mood with games to go gives us a really good chance.

6. Gally’s Kickouts superbly picking out men in space and giving us valuable possession and a platform in the game. He did have a few shaky ones in the second half but he didn’t throw the baby out with the dishwater he kept trying them and the more he tried the more they worked. Excellent progression!

7. Andy Mc’s form….he’s been given a role that doesn’t suit him inside but he’s got on with it and improved as a result. Seen at the finale of Sunday’s game, Winning ball out in front and turning composing himself for a score.

8. Sunday was all about performance it was great to see a Louth team play with freedom, get goals, not lose, show heart to come back and fight for a point.

9. We still can do this….escape relegation I mean we’ve already improved as a team ahead of the championship so survival would be a great bonus.

10. Finally me actually having something to be positive about! Is surely a positive in itself!

THANKS FOR READING

Louth Galway Preview

2014-03-14T10:40:00.000+00:00

JP's finest performance for Louth

Our backs are to the wall, actually not even the wall! we're on the ground! battered and bruised, bottom of Division 2 with no points.

Our luck is out, the county hates the manager, some our best players are injured and morale amongst the lads is at an all time low.

Basically we can go no lower.

However, we are at home and we have 3 games to save face on our 2014 league campaign.

I'm not talking miracles, I'm talking about performance.

Galway come into this game with something we seek not 2 points but confidence. They turned over Down last weekend in Tuam. We've done well against Galway this past two seasons winning by 6 last year in Drogheda and a draw the year before in Salthill

So we really have nothing to lose and we are working extremely hard and if you remain to work hard your luck will change.

Through this process Our Kickouts have improved, Freetaking, 45's and turnovers also.

We now need to move the ball at pace from the backline run directly at them will force them to foul or get black carded...also we need to isolate Derek Maguire he'll burn his marker or at least force a free if he gets the chance.

Our luck is going to change this weekend. I can feel it.

Things to Expect:
-For the love of god a Louth Goal

Louth Meath Again U21

2014-03-12T11:17:00.000+00:00

Louth and Meath U21 Replay Tonight 7:30pm NAVAN

so here we are again.

90 minutes in Dundalk the other night couldn't separate them.

Replays is usually the place where the underdogs finally get put to the sword.

With us being the underdogs everyone predicts a Meath win.
even more so now that the game is in Navan.

But, if we ignore this so called prophecy and believe, then there is no reason why we can't get a win tonight.

Two simple instructions that got us here and why we should have won the last day
Work-Rate and Our Full Forward line.

Sure, Ryan Burns will lose that little bit of the unknownness to the Meath defence but he is still more than capable of causing problems and his extra attention could possibly act as a decoy, allowing others like Conor Grimes and Conall McKeever to step up to the plate.

Thats where we will get our believe from.
Once you have the forwards the work rate follows.

The players and managers are exact same as the other night,

nothing has changed. Except our Belief. Hopefully.

Best of Luck lads, Thanks for reading.

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Scorers Chart 2014 4 games in

2014-03-11T09:33:00.000+00:00

Colm Judge is right out there on top now.

1 C Judge (0-13, 9frees)
2 D Byrne (0-9, 6 frees)
3 Brian White (0-6 2f 145)
4 P Keenan (0-5)
5 D Maguire (0-3)
6 Andy McDonnell (0-2)
- E O’Connor (0-2)
- B Donnelly (0-2 1free) - Darren Clarke (0-2 1free)
- Kevin Rogers (0-2 2free's)
11 Derek Crilly (0-1)
- Patrick Reilly (0-1)

48 points tally. We're only team in all divisions that hasn't scored a goal this year!

Top of the singles Chart
This week goes to the return of the White special....he kicked 3 of em on Sunday. so take your pick!