Louth’s “two goals made the difference” says Brennan 

Louth senior football manager, Ger Brennan, praised his team’s grit after they saw off a stubborn Laois side with a 2-16 to 0-17 victory in the Leinster Senior Football Championship quarter-final at Cedral St. Conleth’s Park this afternoon. 

While the scoreboard showed a five-point win, it was far from straightforward for the Wee County. 

Brennan admitted his side made “hard work of it,” and gave plenty of credit to a Laois outfit that pushed them right to the final whistle.

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Speaking post-match, he said: “We made hard work of it and you have to credit Laois, they had a huge part to play in that to be fair to them.

“I thought, as I said last week in the build-up to it, they looked very organised in their league campaign and the win they had against Wexford.

“We knew what we were getting when we were playing against Laois, very methodical, very structured and I suppose the two goals made the difference and thankfully we got over the line.”

Quick start 

Louth got off to a flying start with a couple of early points, but Laois soon settled and forced their way back into the contest. Brennan pointed to some early mistakes and the impact of Laois goalkeeper Killian Roche.

“So, it was a mixture between probably some of our unforced handling errors, just a bit rusty then, and then the Laois kickout.

“I thought Killian Roche had a great game in goal for Laois and he was finding all his targets and a bit easier than we would have liked.

“We managed to put a couple of things right then at half-time to gain back some sort of control there.

“I think once we cut out those unforced errors and possessions and squeezed their kick out a bit more, it kind of brought us into the game then.”

It wasn’t always pretty, with wayward passing and several efforts falling into Roche’s hands. Brennan acknowledged the performance wasn’t as slick as their last outing.

“You guys were there three weeks ago, everything seemed to go right, despite the best efforts of the players and the work that goes into it, it doesn't always happen.

“A championship brings about its own extra nerves I suppose, which I suppose took our lads into the second half really to probably settle down a bit.”

Durnin change

There was some pre-match confusion when vice-captain Tommy Durnin, listed to start, was replaced by Ciarán Byrne. Brennan explained it was a last-minute call.

“To be fair to Tommy, he's a great servant for Louth GAA, it was one of those things where inter-county football and the demands of real life, the schedule just kind of gets in the way.

“We felt it was a prudent decision just to go at it with Paul (Mathews) and Fearghal (Malone) starting midfield and then bring Tommy in.

“Fearghal, unlucky, picked up a bit of a shoulder injury in the warm-up and wasn't able to recover unfortunately, so it's great to have Tommy come in and he showed us how talented he is.”

Squad depth

Another big positive was the return of Craig Lennon from injury, who made an instant impression off the bench. Brennan was full of praise for the depth now available in his squad.

“One of the things we spoke about at the end of last year was the depth of the panel and trying to deepen it and I think we've seen that now with the guys that we've brought on.

“A few guys made debuts there, I think Kieran McArdle, Fearghal Malone, Dara McDonnell, probably one or two others there that I can't think of.

“Even bringing Dylan McKeown, I know he played a couple of years ago under Mickey (Harte), he hasn't played in a couple of seasons.

“Conor Brannigan coming in as well, Darie Nally, Emmet Carolan, a lot of guys back playing for Louth for the first time in a while and a few fellas making a debut, so it was all in all very positive.”

After a quieter first half, Ryan Burns stood up in the second, converting a vital penalty and helping push Louth clear. Brennan knows the quality Burns brings.

“Look that's the talent Ryan has, even if the elements of the game are not going his way, he's able to turn it on when the opportunities come.

“Again we have to credit Laois, I thought they were very well organised, very disciplined in their defence.

“They cut out a lot of the space that I suppose we would have enjoyed in the last league game and credit to them but the likes of Burnsy when he gets those opportunities he takes them.”

Louth couldn’t fully shake off Laois until late on when Ciaran Byrne found the net following a clever assist from Dylan McKeown.

“That was a lovely bit of interplay from the lads and a great little dummy from ‘Casey’ to go ‘round Killian Roach and rolled the ball in. 

“We probably had three or four goal opportunities and I'd have to give credit to James McCartan.

“Some of those one-on-ones that he does with the forwards when they're inside to ensure that we are getting the goal. That's James' value there.”

Semi-final awaits

Looking ahead, Brennan’s focus is already turning to the semi-final clash and what lies beyond.

“You wouldn't be overly worried, the Championship was about winning and we won and we knew it was a knockout game.

“We've now another knockout game to get to the Leinster final and ensure that we're in the All-Ireland series.

“I know we had a couple of lads in the backroom team here last night watching Kildare’s impressive win over Westmeath.

“Particularly their second half and it should be a humdinger of a game but ultimately the Championship is about winning and we won which is great.”

Louth now march on to the Leinster semi-final against Kildare, brimming with confidence but under no illusions about the challenges ahead.