Inside Track: Mistakes, not the referee, the cause of Louth defeat

Louth conspiracy theorists are having a field day. A Cavan referee shouldn’t have been named to take charge of the Roscommon game, because Louth would be playing the Breffni County in the following round.

And on Sunday last, a Down referee was the wrong choice for the match with Cavan, because Louth would be out against Down a week later.

Give it a rest, lads. Conor Doureen had a good outing in the Roscommon game, and in no way contributed to the Louth defeat. Both counties would agree Paul Faloon didn’t excel on Sunday. Many of his decisions baffled supporters of either side.

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He wasn’t, however, the cause of Louth’s defeat. The blame lay firmly on the team itself, scores given away and others not taken. The six-point dividing margin flattered the winners. But when a team makes as many as Louth did, there really can’t be any complaints.

It wasn’t a good outing for Niall McDonnell in goals. While he was alert to save a penalty, the St Fechin’s clubman made blatant errors when it came to the business end, his side in with a sporting chance at the time of taking something from the fixture.

Two goals within a minute inside the final quarter put Cavan beyond catching. Mistakes leading to both, along with a couple of points from poor kick-outs, made it a game the young man will want to forget.

He didn’t, however, stand alone on a day when promotion hopes took a nosedive, and relegation began to loom large.

At the other end, some wonderful chances were passed up. Every time Louth got a sniff of a goal – and it was often – they couldn’t apply the finishing touch. Either that or a poor pass led to Cavan clearing the danger.

Valiant displays by Donal McKenny and Conall McKeever, Sam Mulroy converting most of his chances from frees and play, and Ryan Burns giving the team the start it wanted, kept Louth in contention until Cavan began to fill the net. In the end their efforts counted for nought.

It’s on to Drogheda this weekend, and a game Louth must win to have supporters looking up instead of over their shoulders with just three games remaining after that.