Inside Track: Four Louth under-20 players named on the country’s top team

Louth footballers’ season has been further embellished with four of the under-20 team being named on the grade’s Team of the Year. Before the year is out, Sam Mulroy might also be among the prizewinners.

Seán Callaghan, James Maguire, Pádraig Tinnelly and Tadhg McDonnell have been honoured for their performances throughout a long championship campaign, which didn’t end until the All-Ireland final defeat by Tyrone.

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Louth has the second-highest representation after Tyrone. The champions’ half-dozen includes star forward, Eoin McElholm, who has been named Player of the Year.

The Tyrone No 11 was a prolific scorer in the champions’ run through the Ulster and All-Ireland campaigns, claiming 2-4 in the defeat of Louth.

Along with Ruairí McCullough, who has also been chosen on the Team of the Year, he formed a lethal partnership up front.

It’s no surprise that Louth players make up over a quarter of the team, and that it includes the midfield duo of team captain Callaghan and Maguire.

Both were dominant in their area in the six-match run – which began with a win over Wicklow in the preliminaries – their fielding being of a particularly high quality.

They were at their best in a thrilling Leinster final with Meath, Louth reversing last year’s result at the same stage.

And they were also to the fore in the semi-final defeat of Dublin on a night in Darver when the rain and wind made it a place for only the very healthiest and most resilient of players and spectators.

Consistency has been the hallmark of Tadhg O’Donnell and Pádraig Tinnelly’s performances.

Both operated in defence, and while there was little either could do to stop what became a second half Tyrone juggernaut, their timely tackles and interceptions throughout helped prevent the dividing margin from being even greater.

Wearing the No 5 jersey that day, McDonnell, a player who’s never afraid to go forward, chipped in with a superb two-pointer.

He and Callaghan were senior club championship winners with St Mary’s last year, while Tinnelly was pivotal in Dundalk Gaels’ intermediate success.

In a county that has spent most of the last half-century looking over its shoulder, Louth has now good reason to concentrate on what’s to come.

The under-20s’ Leinster win was the county’s first in 44 years, while the minors went to within an ace of reaching the All-Ireland semi-finals.

That augurs well. Both teams will have a strong carry-over to next year; while there’s a senior team, winning a place on which, should whet the ambitions of any young player.