Louth kick-off All-Ireland Series against Farneymen

Louth senior footballers have had to park the Leinster celebrations and refocus quickly as they take on Monaghan in the opening round of the All-Ireland Senior Championship this afternoon.

The Wee County have shown serious progress this season, but manager Ger Brennan know better than anyone that momentum is everything now.

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Managing the emotional comedown from such a historic achievement could be as important as the tactical setup on the pitch.

Monaghan, meanwhile, are no strangers to championship battles. They gave Donegal a proper rattle in the Ulster quarter-final and come into this one with real intent.

Recent meetings between the sides suggest there won’t be much in it. Their clash last year ended in a thrilling 2-10 to 2-10 draw.

Louth had been in control for large spells that day, thanks to first-half goals from Craig Lennon and Conor Grimes, but Monaghan showed their steel to claw back a result.

This year’s Allianz National Football League meeting was another all-action affair, with Monaghan edging it 2-27 to 2-21.

The Farney men flew out of the blocks and built a big lead, but Louth’s second-half performance reminded everyone of their fighting spirit.

Speaking ahead of the game, Brennan said: “That was one that got away last year in the All-Ireland Series. We had an opportunity in that second half to probably push on with a couple more scores.

“It's probably a pattern that I probably see in the Louths of this world where maybe they're still not used to being ahead of the scoreboard.

“Whatever's in the mindset historically seems to pop its head up where they begin to hang back and then invite the opposition on you.

“Whereas we're hoping to try to break that mould where if you can get a couple of scores on the board and push ahead in the game that you keep doing what you're doing.

“And keep building on that as opposed to sitting back now there's again historical reasons for that but then there's also the new rules as well that do play a part.

“Which makes it very exciting for the viewers and everyone else but the opportunity for your two-pointers certainly does keep the game interesting.

“The National League this year, Monaghan made mincemeat of us in the first half and thankfully our lads in the second half got it back to three.

“Again, we had a couple of breaches with the new rules that took away that momentum in the second half but again, at the moment this Louth team is a kind of second-half team.

“So, we're trying to become a large part of the first-half team and another large part of the second-half team and if we don't do that or manage to achieve that dominance within both halves when you're playing against Division 1 teams, which Monaghan are then you will get punished.”

Brennan has a close eye on the Monaghan squad and knows what his side is up against.

“Monaghan are a great bit of stuff obviously watch their game I know the lads quite well they've driven my time in UCD.

“The likes of Ryan Wylie, Ryan O'Toole there's lots in there Conor McCarthy, Ciarán McNulty, Killian Lavelle I'm probably missing a few there David Garland.

“There's a lot of these lads, all great lads and the Monaghan fellas are sound fellas I've said it before too, and they're quite a talented bunch.

“So those lads are fairly ruthless if we do make mistakes and we don't get our ducks in a row. But again, you always have to give credit to Monaghan. I think Louth probably just have double the population of Monaghan.

“But Monaghan bar one season in have been in Division 1 in the National League, they went down, they got back up straight away and then they played in All-Ireland semi-finals and were unlucky enough to get to a final in one year.

“A couple of instances in that game, if memory serves me correctly, in the second half but they're a wonderful football county.”

Here’s how Louth will line out: Niall McDonnell; Daire Nally, Dermot Campbell, Donal McKenny; Conal McKeever, Peter Lynch, Craig Lennon; Tommy Durnin, Andy McDonnell; Bevan Duffy, Ciarán Downey, Conor Grimes; Kieran McArdle, Sam Mulroy (c), Ryan Burns.

Substitutes: Tiernan Markey, Liam Jackson, Anthony Williams, Emmet Carolan, Ciarán Byrne, Dara McDonnell, Dan Corcoran, Conor Brannigan, Ciarán Keenan, Dylan McKeown, Paul Mathews.

The referee appointed Brendan Cawley (Kildare).