Louth produce sublime purple patch to secure vital win over Meath

Allianz National League Division Two Round Four

Louth 1-15 Meath 1-12

It was a memorable afternoon for anyone associated with the Wee County, as the Louth Footballers dug deep into the well to record a rare win over Meath in Navan.

The men in red endured two very poor starts in both halves, trailing by four early on and then again by five midway through the second half.

However, helped by the dismissal of Harry O’Higgins, Mickey Harte’s troops showed endless energy when it mattered most. Overcoming their fiercest rivals away from home via a superior work rate and some great defending when it mattered most. A superb goal from Craig Lennon the highlight of a day which will live long in the memories of Louth supporters. 

A second win on the spin, it leaves Louth looking a lot better in the league table, with two huge home games versus Kildare and Cork on the horizon.  

The home side came out of the traps fast and were four up with a little over 10 minutes gone on the clock. Shane Walsh, Ronan Jones and a brace from Jordan Morris doing the damage.

Morris was a huge thorn in Louth’s side, as he was taking on defenders with ease, with plenty of support coming from Matthew Costelloe. They looked at their best when Meath played the ball fast, the direct ball into the corners helping them find the space to run at the visitors.

As if the early deficit wasn’t enough, Louth were also hit by series of injuries, which wasn’t helping their cause. Dan Corcoran was a late withdrawal from the starting 15, having got a knock in the warm-up, while in the first 20 minutes they lost Tom Jackson, Anthony Williams, and Leonard Grey.

Luckily Mickey Harte has a strong bench at his disposal and was able to bring on Craig Lennon, Conal McCaul and Tommy Durnin in their place. Things didn’t improve for a while, but all had positive impacts on the game overall.

Despite Meath’s clear domination all over the field, Louth were staying in contention, two scores from Liam Jackson and Daire McConnon meaning they were still in the game.

Jason Scully pointed for the Royals before the game had its most vital moment. While on the attack Ciaran Murphy was tackled high by Harry O’Higgins on 24 minutes. After some deliberation, referee Joe McQuillan awarded a red card.  Much to the ire of the vocal home support.

Meath failed to score from here until the end of the half, as the men in red took control of proceedings. Durnin was having a field day, his powerful solo run teeing up attack after attack.

McCaul, Daire McConnon and two Sam Mulroy frees had Louth in front at the break, 0-6 to 0-5. While throughout the half they seemed to be the inferior team, they still finished it with eight wides and had a few goal chances too. Would those misses come back to haunt them?

After trading two apiece in the first nine minutes after half time, Meath again took control of proceedings with what looked a match winning purple patch of 1-2 without reply.

The decisive goal came on 47 minutes. A long ball in towards the square was won by Sean Morris. As he fell to the ground he managed to tee up in the incoming Donal Keogan. The Meath captain rattled the net to regain the lead, 1-9 to 0-9.

Two more points followed from Jack Flynn and Mathew Costelloe. Suddenly The Royals had a five-point lead to protect going into the final quarter. They were patient at this stage, keeping the ball for prolonged periods all while frustrating Louth, who essentially didn’t have a shot for 14 minutes.

But Harte has instilled a long missing never say die attitude into anyone who puts on the county jersey for the Wee County, and instead of buckling Louth fought back with a bang.

Daire McConnon ended their barren spell without a score on 56 minutes, but it was a rapid-fire trio of points from Ciaran Downey that really reignited the visitors’ challenge. All from play, the scores were got in about 90 seconds of football. Now they trailed by just a point.

Meath looked a shell of themselves, completely outclassed around the middle and getting turned over quickly on any occasion they ventured into the opposition’s half. One such turnover leading to as good a goal as you’ll see anywhere this year.

Getting onto a loose pass, Craig Lennon soared up the field at pace. After travelling a good 70 meters, the St Mochtas clubman calmly slotted home a superb goal that put Louth back in front on 63 minutes, 1-13 to 1-11.

Meath did manage to end a 13-minute baren spell via a Costello free, but further efforts were from Mulroy and Donal McKenny meant the home side needed a goal.

They flung plenty of high balls in, but when it mattered most Conor Grimes blocked a vital pass meant for Morris, while Tommy Durnin and Lennon rose highest to negate the danger as Louth hung on for a memorable win in Navan.

Louth: James Califf; Leonard Grey, Peter Lynch, Donal McKenny (0-1); Liam Jackson (0-1), Niall Sharkey, Anthony Williams; Conor Early, Ciaran Murphy; Tom Jackson, Ciaran Downey (0-3), Conall McKeever; Daire McConnon (0-3), Sam Mulroy (0-3, 0-2 frees), Conor Grimes (0-1). Subs: Craig Lennon (1-1) for Tom Jackson (12), Conal McCaul (0-1) for Williams (14), Tommy Durnin (0-1) for Grey (21), Bevan Duffy for Liam Jackson (56), Jay Hughes for McConnon (69).

Meath: Harry Hogan; Ada O’Neill, Michael Flood, Harry O’Higgins; Jack O’Connor, Donal Keogan (1-0), Shane McEntee; Ronan Jones (0-1), Jack Flynn (0-2); Cillian O’Sullivan, Jason Scully (0-1), Darragh Campion; Jordan Morris (0-3), Matthew Costelloe (0-2, 0-1 free), Shane Walsh (0-3, 0-2 frees). Subs: James O’Hehir for McEntee (HT), Thomas O’Reilly for O’Sullivan (53), Eoin Harkin for Campion (55), Daithi McGowan for Scully (63), Diarmuid Moriarty for Jones (69).

Referee: Joe McQuillan