Sam Mulroy desperate to give Louth fans something to shout about in Mayo

Louth are back in action in the championship when the Wee County head West for a date with league champions Mayo in McHale Park, Castlebar on Sunday afternoon (Throw in 2PM).

The teams come into the tie off very different results. Mickey Harte's troops were narrowly beaten by Cork in Navan, 1-19 to 1-17, while Kevin McStay's team did the impossible by ending the Kingdom's 39 game unbeaten championship run at Kerry venues by recording a memorable 1-19 to 0-17 victory in Killarney. 

It means that the Wee County are in desperate need of a win to stay in contention of progressing past the knockout stages of the All Ireland Championship, despite three of the four teams in the group progressing.

Sam Mulroy had another great game for his side last Saturday afternoon in Navan, but will need to find another gear, alongside his teammates, if they are to have any hopes of causing a shock. However, the Naomh Mairtin clubman is still relishing this test, plus the one to come with Kerry in the final round of fixtures. 

In his mind, it is about time they got the chance to test their mettle against more top tier opposition.

“We have two of biggest teams in Ireland to go play against next, but this is where we want to be” stressed Mulroy. “We’ve played in the doldrums for long enough. This is where you learn, where you grow.

“We won’t fear anyone, but we will need to clear up a lot of stuff and improve rapidly, but the team can look forward to it and stay positive about these games.

“Mayo will need be thrown off their game a bit for us to get a result. It will be a case of trying to come up with a plan to win it. We will analyse it during the week, lick our wounds and get back at it.”

While these are big occasions for the players, the same can be said too for the Louth fans.

They have been starved of big days out supporting their county against the country's best teams in recent seasons and you can expect them to descend on Castlebar in large numbers once more on Sunday.

The Louth captain was full of praise for everyone that has come out to support them this year and has promised that at the very least he will make sure everyone in the dressing room will leave everything out on the field. 

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He is hopeful supporters will be full voice again in the week's ahead as they look to end the year with a bang.

"It has been a long time since we played the likes of Kerry or Mayo" he exclaimed.

"I just think we are in a privileged position now. The support we have behind us is incredible and I think we gave them something to shout about in Navan.

"Obviously we didn’t get the result, but I think we felt as a team we needed to give supporters something to cheer about after the performance in Croker. Hopefully they’ll still be in Castlebar next week and wherever we play Kerry after that. We appreciate them loads and this team will keep grinding for them."