Plucky Louth Footballers push Mayo all the way in Castlebar

All Ireland Championship Group 1 Round 2

Louth 1-10 Mayo 0-14

For the second week running Louth were beaten by the clock, as the Wee County finished strongly to push Mayo all the way in McHale Park.

Mickey Harte’s troops stayed within reach of the League champions for most of the game  But as the tie entered injury time, they found themselves five behind.

Conall McKeever struck back with a goal that gave the large travelling support some hope that they were still in this contest. And when Conor Grimes notched over a point soon after they were just one behind. But sadly, they ran of time. Just as they were finding a purple patch.

It was a fast start from the hosts who got off the mark inside the opening minute. Ryan O’Donoghue winning a free shortly after the throw in. It was duly slotted over by goalkeeper Colm Reape. Coupled with efforts from Jack Carney and O’Donoghue and Mayo were three up after five minutes.

As to be expected Louth played their highly structured game, keeping all bodies in defence when Mayo had possession and committing them forward when on the ball themselves.

Kevin McStay’s troops were well disciplined and worked hard to break down the Red Wall. They were patient on the ball, going through phase after phase of short passes, as they searched for the best scoring opportunities. Louth to their credit were stubborn and doing well in the individual matchups.

Louth had plenty of the ball, but while pulling off some nice solo runs that caused Mayo problems, they often lacked that killer pass. The final ball often being their Achilles heel, as time after time the hosts were gifted the ball back.

Yet they kept in touch with Mayo, two points from frees via Sam Mulroy plus efforts from Conor Grimes and Ciaran Downey somewhat cancelling out scores from Aidan O’Shea, Jordan Flynn, O’Donoghue and Stephen Coen. At halftime the men from the West led 0-7 to 0-4.

Two early scores from Downey and Leonard Grey gave Louth fans a huge lift in the stands, and they made their voices heard. However, they were struggling to make much ground as they were matched point for point by Mayo.

The men from the west seemed to up the gears from here. Their play was quicker and more direct and it was becoming harder for Louth to defend them.

But with a man of the match performance from Bevan Duffy, coupled with great games from the likes of Donal McKenny, Peter Lynch and Niall Sharkey, they were making the hosts work for every score.  

Mayo came extremely close to bagging a vital goal on 50 minutes only for some brave work from James Califf to win a 50/50 battle with Aidan O’Shea just outside the square. That denied him the opportunity to build a sizable gap.

Louth had chances to raise a green flag too. Grey blasting it over from close range with the goals at his mercy and Conor Early choosing to fist it over the bar from close range rather than testing Colm Reape.

Those points coupled with a free from Mulroy kept the Wee County ticking over, but they just couldn’t get enough in a row to get back on level terms.

Yet a late goal gave the travelling support some hope. A lovely team move resulting in Conall McKeever burying it home on 75 minutes. Less then 60 seconds later came another huge score from Grimes to bring the gap back to just one point. The smallest gap since the second score of the game.

There was a lot of worried faces in McHale Park, as a possible shocked looked on. But just like last week, the clock was their biggest enemy. With the five minutes of additional time played, referee Noel Mooney agonisingly blew the fulltime whistle to save their blushes.

Another strong performance from Louth, who never let Mayo run away from them. Yet in reality they never looked in contention of causing an upset until the dying moments.

They now head into a final round clash with Kerry, hoping to finish the year on a high note. Cork pushed the Kingdom all the way this weekend. After two narrow losses, can Louth finally seal a victory when it matters most?

Unlikely, but anything seems possible under Mickey Harte.     

Louth: James Califf; Bevan Duffy, Peter Lynch, Donal McKenny; Leonard Grey (0-1), Niall Sharkey (0-1), Anthony Williams; Tommy Durnin, Conor Early (0-1); Conal McKeever (1-0), Ciaran Downey 0-3, 0-1 mark), Conor Grimes (0-2); Conal McCaul, Sam Mulroy (0-2), Ciaran Murphy. Subs: Craig Lennon for McCaul (HT), Liam Jackson for Williams (HT), Ryan Burns for Lynch (52), Paul Mathews for Murphy (70).

Mayo: Colm Reape (0-1 free); Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Sam Callinan; Padraic O’Hora, Conor Loftus, Stephen Coen (0-1 mark); Matthew Ruane (0-1), Donnacha McHugh; Jason Doherty, Jack Carney (0-1), Jordan Flynn (0-1); Aidan O'Shea (0-2 frees), James Carr, Ryan O'Donoghue (0-6, 0-4 frees).  Paddy Durcan for Doherty (51), Tommy Conroy for Carr (51), Enda Hession for Callinan (59), Fionn McDonagh (0-1) for Flynn (62), Bob Tuohy for Coyne (74).

Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan)