Inside Track: One time hopefuls, Louth go into the championship as champions

Louth senior footballers set out in defence of their Leinster title on Sunday next. It hasn’t been like this for 68 years.

All the talk in May of last year was of the Delaney Cup coming this way for the first time since 1957. Meath had been beaten in an epic final – the rejoicing which followed wasn’t confined to this county.

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Some of the back-slappers from other places had 2010 in mind – most of the others were just happy to see the county’s long wait coming to an end.

In this county, joy was unconfined, from Cooley to Dundalk, from there to Ardee and then across to Drogheda.

And all places in between, of course, in Clogherhead, Tallanstown, Termonfechin, Dunleer, where the river crosses under a bridge, Castlebellingham, where the team captain hails from, Monasterboice, along with Kilkerley, Roche and, not to mention – but we will – Bellurgan Point.

So, there’s a different complexion on things this time. Louth, champions, not hopefuls, the team to be knocked off the province’s highest pedestal. It’s a welcome change from other years.

The game on Sunday is against Wexford, and awaiting the winners is a test with the once-invincibles, Dublin.

First, a look back to when a Louth team last found themselves in a similar situation.

The 1957 Leinster final defeat of Dublin was followed by a successful All-Ireland series with wins over Tyrone and Cork, the second of them bringing the Sam Maguire Cup to the county for the first time.

The league campaign, which followed over the winter and spring months, began promisingly with wins over Offaly, Roscommon and Wicklow.

Galway, with something to prove, having surprisingly relinquished their All-Ireland crown to Cork a few months earlier, beat Louth in Tuam in late November, ending the first half of the competition.

When activity resumed, Louth got the better of Laois, but in a game they needed to win to force a play-off with Galway for a place in the knock-out stage, the Reds went down tamely to Dublin in front of a 27,000 Croke Park crowd.

That was on May 27th, just a few weeks before Louth’s first defence of their Leinster crown, playing Westmeath in Navan. This resulted in a narrow win, leaving the way clear for a semi-final meeting with Offaly.

A time to get into a serious bit of training, surely? But, no, before the game with Offaly, Louth took off on a trip to New York, which would include a couple of matches, a banquet, and, no doubt, lots of socialising.

Jim Quigley, who trained the All-Ireland team, wasn’t included in the travelling party, giving rise to a controversy that lasted for years. That aside, the timing of the trip, in the midst of a championship campaign, didn’t make sense.

Offaly were accounted for on the team’s return, Kevin Beahan and evenly Alfie Monk sharing four between them.

But when it came to the final, played at Navan due to Croke Park’s Hogan Stand receiving the first of its major makeovers, Louth had no answer to a Dublin team, showing few changes from the one beaten in the previous year’s final.

It ended 1-11 to 1-6, Beahan getting all but a point of his side’s tally. Two trans-Atlantic crossings and all that happened in between got the blame.

(Does Beahan’s scoring feat look familiar? It will to those who know of Ardee St Mary’s – and Louth’s – history. When beaten by Mayo in the 1950 All-Ireland final, Louth scored 1-6, all of which was scored by a St Mary’s colleague of Beahan’s, Nicky Roe.)

Another St Mary’s clubman, Pat Markey, was recalled for the ’58 matches with Offaly and Dublin. He had retired in 1956, thus missing out on the All-Ireland triumph. Not the best of luck, you’d have to think.

That’s all in the past. Coming up on Sunday is the start of a new story, one supporters are hoping has as many very readable chapters as last year’s, which began with a defeat of Laois in Newbridge. The opening challenge is not one to be taken lightly.

Wexford, like Louth, had a good league. They reached the final of Division Three, and though outsiders in their joust with Down, did better than what was expected of them to push the game into extra-time.

They were eventually beaten by three points. Mark Rossiter, their full-forward, caught the eye, numbering two 2-pointers in his 0-6 tally.

Louth, of course, were in a higher plain, competing in Division Two. Two points from a possible six in the opening three games caused concern, but there had been enough evidence in the one-point defeat by the eventual table-toppers, Meath, to suggest it could get better.

And it did. A run that began with a defeat of Tyrone in Ardee didn’t end until Kildare were beaten at home. In between there was another significant Páirc Mhuire win – over Derry – and a rout of Cavan at Breffni.

A total of eight points would have been good enough to earn promotion in other years, but not this one. Meath were chased home by Cork.

You can be sure Gavin Devlin will be preaching against complacency. Championship matches are never easily won, and there’s no reason to believe this one doesn’t fit that category.

The line-up is not available at the time of writing. When it is, it won’t include Eoghan O’Callaghan.

The Naomh Máirtín player, who captained his team to victory in last year’s county final and was named match-of-the-match, shipped a dreadful injury in the league tie with Kildare, and is likely to be out of the game for some considerable time. That’s the worst of bad luck.

Sam Mulroy, may, in his role as captain, say a few words before Sunday’s game. He might want to give his colleague a mention.