Downey: Louth will take it one game at a time

Louth left Kingspan Breffni on Saturday evening with two more Division Two points after a clinical display saw the Wee County overcome Cavan on their own patch, and at the heart of it was Ciaran Downey.

The Louth forward struck 1-4 and collected the man of the match award after a performance full of intent and control.

READ NEXT: Louth “will move on” from Donegal defeat says McArdle

Speaking afterwards, Downey said. “Happy enough, and I have to say a bit happier this week. It's been a tough couple of weeks since the Meath game.

“Coming down tonight, it's a tough place to go; they beat us here last year, and beat us in Ardee the year before, so it was very important that we got a win tonight, so happy ending.”

Louth played with purpose as they hit three two-pointers, and Downey’s goal added a cutting edge. He was quick to deflect praise.

“A bit fortunate. In fairness, it's all about the assist from Burnsy (Ryan Burns). I know there's three kick-passes down the pitch and Burnsy just opened up the body and found me, and look, I was hoping I just didn't hit fresh air.”

“The boys there, I think Paul Mathews kicked a bomb there, Tadhg McDonnell, you know, they're very important.

“We know with the swings here, with the conditions, and, you know, you're never too comfy.

“We had three points at half-time last week, and you could be sitting wherever this week and it's still relatively the same game, you know. So, yeah, fair play to the boys.”

Meath loss

The defeat to Meath still stings, and since then, the Louth reaction has been emphatic.

“Just one thing about our group, we keep saying it in there, and it's a pity, but any time I'm backed to the wall, we seem to just bury our heads and off we go.

“So, look, we'll take it at the minute, we're going okay now.”

Cavan

Cavan threatened to shift the narrative, but a couple of goal chances went abegging.

“Worried" is probably not the word. You're just trying to play a ball at a time, but you're always conscious of the fact that if they get a couple of two-pointers in a row, it puts us under pressure.

“Like the game, as we've seen, can turn. So, I thought we managed the game quite well. So, happy enough with that.

“Like the two or three goal chances. And again, there you go. Like, the game's in a different position, and maybe we’re not talking about performing so well.

“But look, the boys, I keep saying that, you see the men going up there, like there's 10 lads flying together and, you know, they're working so hard to get back.

“And credit to the boys, the work rates through the roof, you know, like the effort from everybody is unbelievable.”

Strong panel

There is a growing sense of cohesion in this Louth panel.

“Like, again, we've been on the road a long time now. We've kind of gone through it all together. And there's one thing with us; we're a close group.

“And when the questions were asked, the boys' answer. And in fairness, there's an awful lot of lads there that’re not seeing minutes.

“Not making 26s, you know, like that's pushing every bit as hard. So, it's a whole group effort here. And like, you know, we're going together as a group, which is the main thing.”

Injuries have tested depth as Peter Lynch has been ruled out for the season, while Donal McKenny was unavailable on Saturday.

“I know it was mentioned last week, and a special mention for Peter, like Peter's been driving this team for a young man, these last two years in particular.

“And to get the kind of injury that he's after picking up, like we're all gutted from him.”

“As you mentioned there, like the privilege it is that we're in a position to play, the likes of Peter and even Donal picked up a bit of a knock there.

“It's a team effort, and I'm conscious of them boys and other lads that are carrying a few knocks as well.

“It's about the group pushing on, and we seem to be doing that at the moment.”

Next

There are four points still to play for at home to Derry in Ardee and then away to Kildare.

“That's the thing, like you're one loss off relegation and then all of a sudden, you're one win from so-called promotion, you know, at the minute.

“So we'll take one game at a time. Derry in two weeks is a big one. And depending on the results, obviously, how things go, we'll see where we are from there.

“But, we've got two weeks now to settle, that's been a big five-game block, so there's a few sore bodies in there.”