Louth Players "don't fear anyone" ahead of championship clash with Offaly

It might be 2005 since Louth and Offaly last clashed in the Leinster Championship, but that doesn’t mean that the Provincial rivals won’t be familiar with each other.

While it wasn’t the case this year, in the past few seasons the rivals have been regularly colliding in Division Three of the National league, a run which was only ended with Louth’s relegation in 2020.

Captain Sam Mulroy will be one of many players jumping into the trenches this weekend who is used to meetings with the Faithful County and he is expecting a significant challenge once more from a side now full of confidence.

“We pipped them two years ago in Tullamore, getting a late goal at the end of the match and I think they came up and beat us last year by point, so they have been closely fought battles anytime we have played” recalled the Naomh Mairtin clubman.

“They are a very decent side, they have some nice forwards, I have seen a few of their games to date and they have showed some fine form to get up to Division Two, that will be a massive boost for everyone in Offaly football.”

“Congratulations to them, but we don’t fear anyone with the way we are playing, we are going to give it our best crack and hopefully it will be enough to come out on the right side of it.”

That fearlessness comes from getting into the habit of scoring, with The Wee County tending to notch up some high scores since finding their groove under the new management team of Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin.

2-7, 0-12, 2-13 and now 1-17 have been got from open play by the Men in Red this year, who looked unstoppable at times when getting a run-on teams, as was seen when they got going against Sligo and Leitrim in the second halves of those encounters.

Mulroy, in his deeper position this year has been front and centre to everything good from his fellow attackers, and with his placed balls now finding their range he is confident they have the skills to break down what he expects to be a very defensive Offaly outfit.

“I hit a few of them well against Carlow, I’m sure there is others I should have scored but I’m enjoying my football at the minute. That is the main thing, and it is easier to do that when you’re winning which we are trying to do, if we keep doing that I’ll be happy.”

“I think Offaly are playing a defensive style of football, so it going to come down to us being able to create some scoring chances. We have hit some high scoring which we’ll need to bring into the match on Sunday.”

“Our performances over the last three weeks or so have been nothing short of excellent, if we can reproduce that we should have enough in the tank to beat them.”

This championship encounter will be like nothing the Louth Footballers have experienced, with a lot more publicity and pressure due to the Mickey Harte Factor whose appointment has seen more excitement and build up to the game from outside the county.

However, the wily forward doesn’t see this being a huge issue, his compatriots knowing they can worry about the extra cameras or national press once they have done their own jobs on the field first and foremost.

“He manages that very well in the dressing room, I don’t think any of us by into that extra hype or anything like that. We have a job to do at the end of the day and so does he, so we rock up to do that job and that’s what it’s all about.”

“We deal with these things after the match, but on the day the most important thing is getting the job done, putting in a performance so that is the plan at the minute, to turn up and perform.”

Success of any nature has been hard to come by for the Wee County, but the recent promotion has lifted the mood in the camp. Getting back to Division Three has always been the goal for the year and that has been achieved.

It has been years since they tasted a big win in Leinster and the Louth captain could not hold back the excitement as to how much a win over The Faithful men would mean to all involved in football in the county.

“It would be massive for the group to get the victory, we haven’t had many wins in the Leinster Championship in the last few years. They are wins that feel brilliant to be involved in and are great to get on the board as it is a huge boost to the county.”

“Offaly are playing some really good football; they have a nice team who are in a really good position these days. We are aiming to win, we want to put in a good performance, it would a mean lot to me and the team to get a win as I’m sure it will to Mickey and Gavin and winning it is the plan.”

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