Louth vs Meath: A fixture that never fails to whet the appetite

It was an exchange of words more than anything else that marked their rivalry when Louth and Meath went head to head at the time of the 2010 Leinster senior final. The game itself was fairly tame, and but for its explosive finish, wouldn’t have gone into many neutrals’ memory banks.

What followed was intense, of course, as Marty with the Mic skipped from Croke Park to Navan to hear what had gone on at meetings, and newspaper, radio and television coverage reached almost saturation point. It was the same after the recent All-Ireland club championship final, and as happened then, the 2010 result stood.

The Boyneside rivals were out against each other in the championship the following year, and again Meath got the decision, this time with the help of a healthy 5-8 (to Louth’s 2-8).

Dundalk FC owners issue open letter to supporters outlining club's future

Louth had been beaten by Carlow in the Leinster – for the first time at this level in the county’s history. It was a defeat that was soon forgotten, however. Within hours of the result the draw for the All-Ireland qualifiers was made, and there were oohs and aahs when Louth were paired with Meath.

The game was played at Cavan’s Breffni Park, and in an interview which followed, ‘Banty’ McEneaney, then in charge of Meath, came out with a remark which he wasn’t asked to explain. “That ends all arguments,” he said, presumably a reference to the previous year’s match. It did nothing of the sort.

McEneaney was still involved when the teams met again the following year, this time in the National League. The Navan game was in the final round, and though Louth weren’t going all that well, they were better positioned than Meath. The Royals, in fact, needed to win to avoid relegation.

It didn’t happen for them. Indeed, they took a hiding, Louth winning by 2-14 to 1-8 and the game played out in front of all-the-time thinning terraces and a largely silent grandstand.

Had Declan Byrne stayed put on the present panel he’d be the only current player on the team of 2012 involved in this weekend’s clash.

The Mochta’s man was at No 5 on a team which read: Neil Gallagher (Cooley K); Padraig Rath (Dreadnots), Dessie Finnegan (St Patrick’s), Gerard Hoey (Geraldines); D Byrne, Jamie Carr (Newtown Blues), Ray Finnegan (St Patrick’s); Paddy Keenan (St Patrick’s), Ronan Carroll (St Mary’s); Derek Crilly (Dundalk Gaels), Mark Brennan (Mattock Rngs), Adrian Reid (Mattock Rngs); Derek Maguire (Y Irelands), Jim McEneaney (Geraldines), Darren Clarke (St Mary’s).

Andy McDonnell (Newtown Blues) and Liam Shevlin (Dreadnots) came in as subs, and Derek Maguire top-scored with 2-2.

There mightn’t have been as much at stake when the sides met in the same competition at the same venue in 1990, but the win recorded by Louth was noteworthy nevertheless.

Meath had several All-Ireland winners included and when one of the best known of them burst through with only seconds remaining, and Louth leading by 0-10 to 0-9, he looked odds-on to either snatch the winner or draw the match.

Colm O’Rourke gambled by going for the goal. He could have tapped the ball over, but instead decided to test Gerry Farrell. ‘Flogger’ was equal to it, and O’Rourke was lavish in his praise of the Cooley goalie in an interview afterwards.

John Fox would never forgive Inside Track if reference wasn’t made to the performance he turned in that day, face to face with no less a full-back than Mick Lyons. This paper had something like “Fox outwits the Lyon” on the following Saturday.

Let’s have a look at this team as well: G Farrell (Cooley K); Gerry Winters (Nh Mairtin), Kevin O’Hanlon (Clan na Gael), Martin Morgan (Nh Mairtin); John Osborne (Nh Finbarra), Stephen Melia (John Mitchel’s), Pat Butterly (Stabannon P); )Peter Fitzpatrick (Clan na Gael), Ken Reilly (Stabannon P); Nicholas Browne (Geraldines), Brendan Kerin (St Mary’s), Cathal O’Hanlon (Clan na Gael)’; Colin Kelly (Newtown B), J Fox (St Joseph’s), Gerry Reynolds (Stabannon P).

Inside Track: Last weekend's results puts an extra shine on Pairc Tailteann game

Leo McGuigan (Cooley K), Ronan Greene (Clan na Gael), and Brendan McGahon (Sean McDermott’s) were replacements.

Colm O’Rourke fills a different role for Sunday’s meeting of the counties. The All-Ireland winner is in his first term as Meath manager and has made a winning start. He comes face to face with Mickey Harte, someone he often commented on in his role as RTE Sunday Game pundit.

A Boyneside clash never fails to whet the appetite.