Louth win against Down "Is what we needed to re-invigorate our league campaign" says Brennan

Louth senior footballers secured a hard-earned 2-17 to 0-22 win over Down in the Allianz National Football League tie at Integral GAA Grounds, Drogheda this afternoon.

Manager Ger Brennan reflected on the spirited triumph and acknowleded the effort his players put in until the final whistle.

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Speaking after the game, he said: “It’s great to get the two points. That is what we needed to get today to re-invigorate our league campaign.

“There were moments last week in the Cavan game in terms of when we demonstrated good phases of play, and we tried to get that over the 70 minutes today.

“We all observed the last ten minutes or so where we struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking over which made things more difficult on ourselves. There was great spirit shown by the players to get the two points today.”

(Andy McDonnell of Louth in action against Odhran Murdock, left, and James Guinness of Down. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Character and commitment

The manager commended the character, effort, and commitment shown by his squad.

He said: “Well, I think that is something that I have said after each game so far this year that the spirit and the effort of the players has never been in doubt.

“It is just tightening up on some of the handling errors, shot selection, defensively – particularly with the ‘keeper coming up.

“How can we mitigate against that extra player? Look, it certainly wasn’t pretty today (we) have big things to work on going into the match next week. But we got the two points and that’s the main thing.”

(Daniel Guinness of Down is tackled by Tommy Durnin of Louth. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Down's counterattack

Brennan acknowledged Down’s impressive counterattacking play and cited their high-scoring ability.

“That is something that we would have observed in their previous games. I think they kicked 66 scores in total over their three games,” he said.

“So, they were averaging high scores. I think 30% or 40% of their scores over those three games was coming from the counterattack.

“They did catch us out on an occasion, and I think we have to give credit to Niall McDonnell – I think he really stood up again, he made some wonderful saves and gameplay when he came up the pitch.

“On the kickouts then as well we have worked really hard in trying to cut out some of those mistakes last week. Credit to Niall it took a lot of character for him to come back from last week.”

(Peter Fagan of Down in action against Kieran McArdle of Louth. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Responding to criticism

Net minder McDonnell faced criticism after an error in the previous game against Cavan, but Brennan believed he answered his critics in the best way possible.

“That is the strength of the man that he is able to come back, he didn’t shy away from it. We also spoke about the outfield players too during the week,” Brennan said.

“That ultimately, we kicked just shy of 50% of our shots last week which put us under pressure at the back. So again, when a goalkeeper has a mishap that can be amplified given his proximity to the goal.

“Whereas when an outfield player makes a mistake, they have a bit of time to recover. To be fair to Niall he was superb today.”

(James Guinness of Down is tackled by Louth goalkeeper Niall McDonnell. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Kickout improvements

Louth’s kickout strategy worked well this week against the Mournemen and led to an increase in possession. Brennan said: “I haven’t looked at the numbers yet.

"It doesn’t be pretty, but we just said we will play the percentages between the weather, the footing, and the conditions.  
  
“We still got a couple of shorts ones off too with Donal McKenny showing quite well. We will try to get bodies around the middle now. 

“Fair play to Down they had some massive fielders, massive leaps, and they put our guys under pressure.”

(Andy McDonnell of Louth in action against Miceal Rooney of Down. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Burns and McArdle goals 

Louth’s two goals made the difference, with Ryan Burns finding the net in the first half and Kieran McArdle reacting sharply for the second.

Brennan said: “It is super! We probably haven’t been scoring as many goals this campaign as we had last year.

“Maybe that is something opposition teams have been doing their homework on us that we are good at cutting teams open.

“But we scored two goals today albeit scrappy. Kieran’s one was brave, and he just threw himself to it. It was great.”

(Kieran McArdle of Louth celebrates after scoring his side's second goal against Down. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Defensive bravery

Daire Nally put his body on the line with a vital block, something Brennan was keen to highlight. “Daire has had a super couple of months and did really well in the full-back line last week.

“In terms of selection and match-ups we brought him out the pitch a small bit this week and I thought he looked really comfortable – he looks like he has been playing inter-county football for years,” he said.

(Down goalkeeper Ronan Burns saves the shot of Liam Jackson of Louth. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Promotion is possible

With another two points secured, Louth remains in the hunt for promotion. He said: “It is a very competitive league to be fair Division 2 is massive.

“The two teams that tend to come down from Division 1 are probably a bit sharper in terms of being exposed to a higher level of football over the previous season.”

(Louth manager Ger Brennan before the Allianz Football League Division 2 match against Down. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

The supporters

Brennan praised the Louth supporters and spoke of the momentum gained from last year’s Leinster final.

“The support has been super. I think it really grew from last year after that performance in the Leinster final,” he said.

“I think a lot of people around Louth began to jump on the bandwagon and started attending games. Thankfully that support has continued.

“But we felt as a team and the players wanted to give them something to support and shout for and I think we seen the effort out there from our lads.”

(Supporters shield their eyes from the sun during the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Louth and Down. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile)

Injury concerns

Brennan admitted injuries have been an issue but pointed out the depth of the squad.

He said: “There are a lot of injuries, and a lot of squads have it. On the flip side of it is that we have eight fellas that played National League this year that didn’t play last year.

“Six of them are debutants and then obviously Andy McDonnell and Emmet Carolan. It is a case of one or two fellas back, one or two fellas gone.

“Today was probably our most experienced team that we have managed to get out on the pitch.”