Louth set for Royal NFL battle at Croker on Saturday

Louth senior footballers take on neighbours Meath in their Allianz National Football League, Division Two tie at Croke Park on Saturday at 5.00pm.

The Wee County arrive to GAA HQ with one win from two games after an opening-round 1-21 to 0-19 victory away to Offaly in Tullamore, followed by a 1-17 to 1-12 setback at home to Cork at the Integral GAA Grounds, Drogheda.

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Meath have started strongly with a 0-19 to 1-13 win over Derry at Croke Park, which was backed up by a 2-17 to 1-18 victory away to Cavan at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Louth manager Gavin Devlin is clear on the appeal of what lies ahead.

He said: “Our boys, we love the challenge too, and there's no greater challenge than Meath, particularly coming in the back of the Cork performance and getting beat by Cork.

“It's important to get on the horse as quickly as possible again and get a performance. So, there's no better game to get your juices flowing again than Meath and your local rivals.”

The Cork defeat prompted reflection rather than panic.

“We came out in the second half, and we got a good energy that we talked about at half-time, and we started really well. The week before with Offaly, people were getting carried away with winning one game, and that's what people do.

“They look at the result, and they draw their conclusions, but we don't have that luxury. We've got to go in-depth on what happened out there. It is what it is. It's gone now. We've set it down already, and we're looking forward to the Meath game.”

Devlin says Meath are the perfect refocusing exercise.

“Meath, that's the game you'd want to get to refocus again and go again. It's so, so competitive all through the four divisions, and I think the National League is fantastic, particularly when everything is at stake.”

Squad depth

There are still injury concerns as midfielder Tommy Durnin remains sidelined and Conall McKeever is being monitored.

“Tommy is still; he's come on well, but he won't be ready for the Meath game. Conall, we're still assessing Conall McKeever.

“We're hoping that he could play some part in the Meath game, but look, at this time of the year, you strive and hope that everyone is available.

“And if you're playing your same team every week with him, you wouldn't be learning much. It's a disappointment when you don't have your full team, but it does; it closes one door for one and opens a door for another.

“That's two games we've played, and we've made changes in both games, even from the O’Byrne Cup, so we're getting a lot of minutes into different guys at different times, and I think in all that there's a plus.

“Cork were really, really strong last week, and we gave two young boys a debut from the U20s, and we brought on Tadhg McDonnell and Sená Callaghan, and we don't apologise for that.

“It's the direction of travel that we're on, bringing young players through, and I think long-term it will be healthy.

“Although there's a wee bit of pain at the moment, that's what the national league is for, maybe trying to get some players through and start a new team here.”

GAA HQ

Croke Park itself adds another layer.

“I'm sure everyone's the same, everyone loves getting into Croke Park, and Louth are no different. It definitely gets you really, really focused.

“But for Meath, they've already played Derry there this year, this is their second game in it, so everything's stacked in Meath’s side.

“They're coming for the second time, we're coming for the first, but yeah, look, our boys love it, and there's no better place to play.

“Like you see out here today, the pitches are waterlogged, everything's soft, you go to Croke Park, there's a bounce of a ball, we just love to get out there and express ourselves in Croke Park like everyone else.”

Meath

Devlin has been watching the Royals closely since their championship run last season.

“I just mentioned earlier, to go last year and beat Dublin and Kerry in championship matches,  you're All-Ireland contenders when you're doing that.

“Whatever about Louth scraping over the line in the Leinster final, their attitude and how they reset and went about their business and got to an All-Ireland semi-final.

“That showed some real mental toughness to do that, particularly after they lost in the Leinster final and like you've got to bear in mind Jordan Morris and Jack Flynn weren't available in the Leinster final.

“Jordan Morris is just on the crest of a wave at the moment, like the first two National League Derry and particularly against Cavan last week, he was immense.

“He's a real assassin inside Jordan Morris, but whatever about being an assassin inside, when you give him that wee bit of space, he can thread a lovely pass through for (Eoghan) Frayne or someone inside as well.

“He’s a star quality, so when you add that on top of what they already have in the Leinster final, and yeah, they're a serious, serious weapon, Meath, we know that.

“To beat Derry as well, like they seen Derry at a really good level against Tyrone last week, they found their mojo again.

“So, Meath to beat them in Croke Park a few weeks ago, like we're under no illusions what's ahead of us, make no mistake about it.

“But our boys love these types of games, and they love getting up for them, and yeah, they've had a good record against Meath the last number of years, so that's something to lean on.”

Previous meeting

Memories of Navan in 2023 linger.

“We made a super run back, a scramble back defensively, and Meath, we're in a transitional moment, and they get out the back.

“We came out of nowhere and dispossessed the Meath attacker; that was a big moment in the game with a couple of minutes to go. That was a nail-biting game, and I have no doubt on Saturday that it'll be something similar.

“We've got to be there to go through the duration of the game and hope they take it down the home straight like we normally do, and yeah, we'll be bringing our best on Saturday.”

Craig Lennon

St. Mochtas clubman Craig Lennon’s influence is never far from the conversation when these two sides meet.

“Craig has started really well this year for us as well, and I'm sure he'll be a marked man. I'm sure Meath will have a game plan there to nullify Craig in some capacity.

“So, dealing with all that, and it's for other players around Craig to try and release him and try and take some of the burden off Craig.

“Where Craig can maybe free up as the game's starting to progress, so it'll be all nuances throughout the course of the game, no doubt, and it'll be fascinating to see the different battles.”

Fine margins

Score difference is tight in Division Two, and margins remain small.

“No, not much to choose and we were lucky enough towards the end of the Cork game last week just to get the goal and a couple of points to take that down as well because it could come down to that, it's that tight.

“So the score difference is important, but at this stage, it's like it's points on the board and trying to find the performance that's good enough to beat a real top-quality team like Meath.”

Derby

Devlin knows what derby games demand.

“They seem to know what's on the line in the bigger games and your preparation and everything, although we try to keep every game the same to try and get the consistency of performance.

“But when you're not coming up against your archrivals, it's when you go to the shop during the week, or you're going into your house, and your family's talking about it or the papers.

“It seems to give you that extra bit of spice, and we're just trying to keep the thing as level as we can, and you know, let their supporters and let everyone get hung up on that end of it.

“We have a game to play and just finding a performance that was better than the Cork performance because the Cork performance will be no use in taking on Meath, so that's our focus, trying to get a performance.”

U20s

The bigger picture is squad development.

“I don't think there's any other way, like I think that's a healthy mindset to try and breed new players and build a bigger squad.

“Because ultimately, like you see the teams around us, what they're doing, the Armagh's, the Tyrone's, the Mayo’s, the Kerry’s.

“They have a serious squad to pick from, and like there's no value in having a shallow squad, and we got to an under-20 All-Ireland final last year.

“We've got underage players, and there's only one way they're going to develop and get better, like we try and develop them on the training field on a daily basis.

“But they need game time, they need to taste what it's like on game day, and you know it's a tough learning environment out there, particularly when you're playing at the top level with the Corks and the Mayo’s and the Derry’s and the Tyrone’s, it's a really tough environment, it's unforgiving.

“It's all that, and it's trying to put them in the right moment where you don't fall flat on their face, where you try and get them as ready as best you can, and it's all that.

“I just feel that the best place these guys learn is letting them at it and letting them go out and play, so it's a fine balance, but that's what we're working with.”

Competition for places

Competition is everywhere, even in goals.

“We have good goalkeepers, we've good full backs, and we've good midfielders, and we've good forwards, and in every sector of the field, you want to have options.

“You're right, we have options and goals now as well. Tiernan (Markey) stepped up really well, and Niall (McDonnell), yeah, that's the balance.

“Niall is more experienced than Tiernan for sure, and that's the decision we have to make, but there's only one way Tiernan's going to get experience.

“So it's all that as I spoke about earlier, and yeah, we've competition in every line. I thought Padraic Tinnelly did really well last week against Cork.

“Emmett Carolan, we hope to have him back. Daire McNally, good game time. Tadhg McDonnell didn't do too bad when he came in.

“So eight or nine defenders into six doesn’t go so yes there's a decision to make in goals but a decision to make all over the pitch, and that's what we're aiming for, to have a bigger panel and have more choices to make so that's what we're about.”

Analysis and focus

The Cork loss still stings, but the analysis is done.

“Because we beat Offaly and then we lost to Cork, everything was right against Offaly, and then everything was a disaster against Cork.

“And I think I've probably watched the game back more times from Sunday than you've probably brushed your teeth since then.

“So, I'm coming from a good place when I tell you that I've analysed the game and yes, the performance wasn't perfect, but it was very small margins to win that Cork game.

“We went in eight down, and there's no way in this world we should have been eight down. We could have done three or four up.

“There's a big moment in that game where Sam (Mulroy) was through his first goal chance and went wide of the post.

“And there's an incident when he was on the ground, and he was still on the ground, and the ball was kicked short, and within seconds the ball was in the back of our net.

“There was another incident in the first half where Ryan Burns ran along the end line and tried to find a pass, maybe it was an option to fist it over the bar, he tried to lay it out for a goal.

“They went up the field and got a point, an error from our goalkeeper on a kick out, and they got a two-pointer that was another three-point swing, a four-point swing in the first half.

“We don't have the luxury of looking at the scoreboard and thinking everything's all wrong; we have to analyse the game.

“There's an enjoyment in it as well, and we try to create an environment downstairs so they want to come here and be here.”