Undefeated Louth and Kildare set to clash in vital O'Byrne Cup encounter

After getting 2023 off to the perfect start when accounting for Westmeath in Darver, a tough test is on horizon as the Wee County make the trip to Newbridge to face Kildare tomorrow afternoon (Throw in 2PM).

The Lilys began their season on the road in Wexford, where they accounted for the Yellowbellies quite comfortably, 1-18 to 1-11.

The star of the show for Kildare was undoubtedly Jack Robinson while Darragh Kirwan was not too far behind, each scoring six points. Having led by 0-11 to 0-6 by the halftime break, a Paddy Woodgate goal early on all but put an end to the contest.

Yet Kildare manager Glenn Ryan wasn’t overly happy afterwards.  While expressing his satisfaction, he admitted there is much room for improvement. Given how convincingly they won this match, this has to be a warning for Harte that there is more to come from tomorrow’s opponents.

Speaking of Harte’s troops, they managed to recover from a slow start to eke out a valuable win which saw the Tyrone native unleash nine debutants.

Having trailed for much of the first half, a Conor Grimes goal on 30 minutes proved crucial, putting Louth in front for the first time. They showed a great defensive steel to keep the Lake County to just a point in the second half, helping them to eke out a narrow 1-8 to 0-9 victory.

Dan Corcoran, Paul Matthews and Grimes were the names that stood out for the Wee County, on a night were 23 players got an early season run out.  

Louth's Declan Byrne enjoying transition into life as a goalkeeper

Conor Grimes goal sees Louth footballers begin O'Byrne Cup with a win

The Kildare team for this tie was named this evening. Darragh Kirwan and Paddy Woodgate are set to start again for last year’s Leinster Finalists, however Jack Robinson is one of nine players to be dropped from the starting 15, as the home side look to give others a chance to shine.

At the time of writing the Louth team has yet to be named, but it is very possible we could see just as many changes, given the short three day around since their game with Westmeath and the fact they are on the road on Wednesday night to face Wexford.

Their last meeting was also not that long ago, as the Lilys gave Louth a humbling championship defeat last May. They were coming off the back of decisive win over Carlow, which was their first championship win in the province since 2019, along with being on an eight-game unbeaten run.

Louth were defeated by 16 points on the day in O’Connor Park and after a slow start were always playing catch up. A hard running Kildare swarmed and pressed them, all while dominating James Califf’s kick outs on every occasion. Throughout the tie Louth couldn’t deal with their intensity.