Mickey Harte annoyed to have let down such a vocal Louth support

It was an afternoon people hoped would live long in the memories. The Wee County have waited so long, since 1957 to be exact, to regain the Leinster Title.

And so a sea of red descended on the Capital and Croke Park. They outnumbered the Dublin support on their so called ‘home turf’ and as the parade commenced the noise was deafening. Even from your writer’s vantage point, high up in the rafters of the Press Box, the noise was impressive.

The Louth supporters did their part to create history. Could the team now replicate that energy from the stands onto the field of play? Could Louth finally end their 66-year provincial final famine?

They gave it everything they had out there. Threw all they could muster at the all-conquering Dublin juggernaut. But sadly they just couldn’t cope with the sheer quality of their opponents.

Harte Break: Louth humbled by Dublin in Leinster Final

Dessie Farrell’s troops turned on the style and hit them with an onslaught. Two huge purple patches helping them on their way to a fully deserved 21-point victory.

“We started well” recalled Mickey Harte when speaking to the large media scrum that had assembled to hear his post-match thoughts.

“It was an intense first 15 minutes or so and we were with them ball for ball. They stole a march on us until the last five or six minutes of the half. I thought we performed well again, to keep ourselves looking creditable.

“At the start of second half, we got a few points back and then Dublin took over. They are just a very good side, and we are not at that level just now and we have to play teams like them to learn a lesson.

“It is a harsh lesson for players. It is one thing getting beaten, it is another thing getting battered and that is what happened to us today. But sometimes that happens in football and you have to learn from every outcome.”

The quality Dublin possessed was obvious to all well in advance of throw in. The All-Ireland winners that they had in reserve was flagged up as something to be afraid of. But in the end, they were unleashed as part of the starting 15.

Brian Howard, Jack McCaffrey and Niall Scully’s additions only added to the challenge at hand. Harte noted how this lifted Dublin. Yet overall, he was just annoyed his team couldn’t create more moments of magic for the large travelling support.

“I must say that the Louth crowd, when we were in the game and playing with a bit of energy in the first 15 minutes, they were great and added to the atmosphere.

“But we didn’t give them much to cheer about apart from a couple of minutes before half-time and the first few minutes of the second half. After that, Dublin just took over.

“And obviously, at the start, when you take Scully and Howard and McCaffrey into the team, that sort of quality, that was a real welcome for us, seeing those three men starting. They were already a very good team, but they had quality coming in too.”

The battle around the centre was always going to be key area for Louth to get right. Unfortunately, it was Brian Fenton and James McCarthy that bossed the centre of the park. Tommy Durnin and Conor Early struggled to make much of an impact.

Coupled with errors from their own kickouts and the Wee County were forced to soak up significant pressure, which against the Dubs was always going to lead to leaking goal opportunities.

“We were our own worst enemy, to some extent, in that we were playing kick-outs to the middle of the field” noted the Tyrone native.

“And we were winning those sort of balls in other games. But Dublin were prepared for it and probably we didn’t adjust to that and get some control for ourselves.

“They are so sharp in the break. They pressed very high and they didn’t give us much options for the short kick-out. They are just a good team, who are well-prepared and well-structured and they are always prepared for the opposition game-plan.”

Of course, this is not the end of the road for Louth. They now enter into Group 1 of the All Ireland Championship alongside Cork, Division 1 champions Mayo and the current holders of Sam Maguire Kerry.

But after such a heavy drubbing, can they lift themselves up again for what is sure to be more huge challenges in the weeks ahead?

“It all depends on how you deal with it” stressed Harte. 

“It could set you back if you choose to let it set you back.  But if you decide to learn from it and you decide that you start to climb out of that poor place that you’re in right now, then it can be a good thing. 

“It is what we’ll make it. We can make it something that deflates us entirely and you know sends us into a spin, or we can say there’s a position that, if you want to try and get there, there’s lots of things to be done. So get to work on them. 

“You won’t get there in one step. You take it a step at a time. The progress can be slow, but as long as it’s forward moving, it doesn’t have to be a rocket.”