Inside Track: Winners in a photo-finish, Louth now look to championship

The race to decide the relegation in Division Two of the National League went all the way to the finish line. A photo was needed, and the print showed Louth had got the better of Down with just a short-head to spare.

It was tight at the other end as well, but not as close. Monaghan got the decision here, managing to finish ahead of Roscommon. These were the teams new to the division this year, and now make a swift return to where they were in 2024.

The two other newcomers, Down and Westmeath, promoted from Division Three, are on their way back there, Westmeath having failed to win any of their seven games, and Down, as said, losing out in a photo finish.

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This was the second year in which Louth had to go to the last round to make certain of staying put. Last year it required a win over Kildare in Carlow; but the year before that, the Reds were in the hunt for promotion going into round seven.

Had there been a win over Dublin, Division One football would have beckoned, but, new at the time to the second tier, it didn’t work out too well at Croke Park for the then-Mickey Harte managed team.

Although there have been a couple of narrow squeaks, Louth are near enough an established Division Two team. Next year will be the team’s fourth in succession to be pitted there. TV pundits, Lee Keegan and Ciarán Whelan, agree it was by far the most competitive of the four sections this time around.

It’s nearly always like that. Last year’s renewal had Armagh going up, and then winning the biggest prize of all. Next January, this year’s non-movers, Louth, Cork, Meath and Cavan, will have the relegated Tyrone and Derry to contend with, along with Division Three’s promoted pair, Kildare and Offaly.

Mickey Harte has an association with half that field, having been formerly in charge of Tyrone, Louth and Derry, and at present sharing managerial duties in Offaly.

Familiarity won’t breed contempt with the Ballygawley man when it comes to the first few months of next year, maybe just give him a wee bit of an edge.

The game today is much different from the one Harte’s Louth team played in the three years up to his shock move to Derry near the end of 2023.

The new rules are bedding in, but already it’s clear their biggest influence is on the scoreboard. Results like 0-8 to 0-6 are a thing of the past.

It’s also clear greater fitness is required – and, of course, there is a need for scorers. Louth were well served on that score over the past few months, and for many, many before that, by Sam Mulroy.

The Naomh Máirtín clubman amassed one of the country’s highest tallies in the six of the seven games in which he was involved in this campaign.

The one he missed out on was the most recent; but when there were fears on the build up to it that in his absence, scores would be hard to come by, there were several around to make themselves available.

Ryan Burns was a more than adequate replacement as free-taker, coming it with nine points; Conor Brannigan backed himself with a couple of two-point shots and collected; Tommy Durnin decorated one his best performances with another two-pointer, and Kieran McArdle took his goal brilliantly. This was a perfect response in the face of adversity.

Third-last place in the table would have been enough to qualify Louth for the All-Ireland series in other years, but having won last year’s Tailteann Cup, Down automatically go through, regardless of how they fare in the Ulster Championship. That leaves Louth needing to get to the Leinster final.

Ger Brennan’s side have been there for the last two years, losing out to serial winners, Dublin, on both occasions. Standing in the way of the hat-trick is a group which includes a team, Wexford, that contested the league’s Division Four, two from the third tier, Kildare and Laois, and the whippers-in in Division Two, Westmeath.

There are reasons to be optimistic, especially if Brennan and his colleagues are able to field their preferred side, one that has Mulroy, Craig Lennon and Ciarán Keenan available to them. The latter duo have been in dry dock in recent times, All-Star Lennon since the league’s second round match with Roscommon.

The men on the line, however, know that when they sit to select their side for the first round match with either Laois or Wexford, they’ll not be short of options.