Louth hurlers head west for Sligo challenge this afternoon

Louth senior hurlers make the trip west today for their opening Nickey Rackard Cup clash against Sligo at Markievicz Park at 3.00pm.

There’s a strong sense of quiet confidence building within the Wee County camp after an impressive league run that saw Trevor Hilliard’s men go unbeaten in the Allianz National Hurling League, Division Four and lift the league title.

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Speaking with the Dundalk Democrat ahead of the game, Hilliard said: “Winning the league and especially then winning the cup against Fermanagh, you can't put yourself in a better place.

“Going into the Sligo game, you're on a winning run. I wouldn't be under any illusions what Sligo will have. Even though they came down this year, they can still get themselves back right for the Championship.

“But on our own front, we have to be happy where we are after winning the league and topping the group. So, we're unbeaten, hopefully we can take that unbeaten run in against Sligo and keep driving forward.”

Sligo are expected to bring plenty of intensity to the contest, and Hilliard is under no illusions about the challenge they pose.

“I expect Sligo to bring aggression, and they've Conor Hanniffy in the forward line, so they're going to be tough. Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch is going to be in the inside line.

“You know, he's their free taker, but he still is scoring off play at the minute. So they have a good lot of men to watch. They'll bring a big fight to the game.

“There'll be something very similar to Fermanagh. You know, there'll be no ball won easily on the ground. We'd be probably hoping that the weather stays good.

“But there are definitely plenty of threats up front, so we'd have to be making sure that our men are well aware of them. So, we're taking nothing for granted.

“And, you know, a championship is a different ballgame. You know, the league's over, done and dusted. So, Sligo will be saying that to their buddies.

“We have to make sure that we prepare our team best possible, and get the matchups right hopefully on the day that we can get over the line.”

Hilliard has named his team to take on Sligo as: 1. Conor Clancy (c); 2. John Casey, 3. Conor Quigley, 4. Stephen Kettle; 5. Mark Gahan, 6. Leon Fox, 7. Aaron McGuinness; 8. Ben Goss-Kieran, 9. Seán Hodgins; 10. Conor Murphy, 11. Thomas McCreesh, 12. Peter Fortune 13. Darren Geoghegan; 14. Seán Flynn, 15. Seaghan Conneely.

Substitutes: 16. Ricky McKeown, 17. Kyle Rafferty, 18. Paddy Lynch, 19. Sam Phelan, 20. James Costello, 21. Michael O'Shea, 22. Brian Corcoran, 23. James Murphy, 24. James Byrne, 25. David Stephenson, 26. Seán Magill.