Louth U20s defeat Dubs as Reel hails "really good" response

Louth U20's rode their luck late on as they secured a second consecutive win in the Leinster U20 Football Championship at Parnell Park, Dublin on Wednesday night.

A game that appeared under control tightened dramatically in the closing stages, with Dublin missing a late chance that could have salvaged a draw.

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Speaking after the game, Louth manager Fergal Reel acknowledged the drop-off in the closing minutes after his side had built a commanding lead.

He said: “Probably another seven or eight up, and maybe turned over a few times, but Dublin's a strong physical team, and if you bring the ball into that area you're going to be caught.

“They turned us over and probably got away with a chance at the end. They put it wide of the post. It could have been a draw match. So, you know, you're a bit disappointed with that, the finish of it, but some of it was very good, though.”

Louth led 0-7 to 0-4 at the break but were quickly reeled in after the restart.

“Dublin will always come back. We go in 7-4 at half-time. You wonder, is it enough?

“Funnily, I said it to Seamie (Mulholland) and Decky (Byrne), I didn't think that the breeze had a significant influence on the match, or would have, and I didn't think it was that way, but then we go back 7-7, you start thinking, am I right here.

“The response then, the response was really good, showed a bit of experience, and minded the ball well, and killed the game at times, and got one-on-one runners coming in.

“Yeah, some of it in the second half was good, but it comes probably from the experience of being on the road a while.”

Key performances

There were standout contributions across the pitch, including crucial saves and an impactful bench.

“Yeah, but if you're standing here and the ball's in the back of the net, you mightn’t have that many positives, so, you know, it's a fickle game.

"You know, Dublin's always Dublin, they're going to come at you, and with the modern game, it's never over.

“Like, eight points up or seven points up, with three or four minutes to go, it's never a done deal, and we got away with it, and you'd be disappointed with a bit of that.

“But, you know, and that's not been hard on the lads, it's a great game to get under your belt, minutes in on the lads there as you said hadn't got game time.

“So, you know, there's a lot of positives from that perspective, but it's about, as they always say, recovery, and getting ready to go again, and that's the situation we're in at the moment.”

Game management

The closing stages offered a clear learning point for a developing side.

“Oh, and absolutely, and probably did, because I think they won the next kick-out Dublin, and we were on the back foot, and we were stumbling a bit.

“You know, probably for young lads trying to adapt to the fact that I think the game is done with three or four minutes to go, with eight points.

“As we've said already, it's never done, so, as you said, learning curves from that point of view, and we'll look at the video. We'll see where we can improve on that, yeah, overall, you have to be happy with the result.”

Squad selection

With players returning and others impressing, competition for places is intensifying.

“Yeah, difficult, and the boys trained really well the other night, and I told them that in there it's difficult to pick a squad.

“Then it's difficult to believe in lads that don't get game time, and there's probably a few more to come back into that as well. So, you know, it is getting to be more difficult, but I'd rather be that side of it than be looking for players.”

Fixture concerns

Reel was critical of the scheduling, with Louth facing a tighter turnaround than their opponents.

“Yeah, and that's no reflection on Dublin. I think the Leinster Council needs to look at the situation like that. Five days to play two Championship matches is completely wrong, and they speak of player welfare, but they certainly don't carry it out.

“You know, regardless of how the result went tonight, I would feel strongly that it was wrong to ask them to go out, and certainly, nothing to do with Dublin. The Leinster Council needs to take ownership of that and deal with it in the right fashion.”

Semi-final spot secured

Results elsewhere mean Louth have secured a semi-final place ahead of their final group game against Wexford.

“Is that correct? Yeah. So, listen, that's nice. That's nice to know, but are you sure of that? OK, well, listen, if we play Wexford next week.

We have to see where we're at with that, but the first thing is now recovery, get the bodies fresh, and have a lot of sore bodies in there. So, we have to get that fixed, and then we'll see where we're at in training later on in the week.”

Recovery

With progression confirmed, attention turns to balancing momentum and recovery.

“Well, you know, I think it's a difficult competition in the fact that it's run week in, week out, so a breather probably is not a bad thing now.

“So, you know, we'll maybe give minutes to the lads next week if that's the way it's planned out, and then the following week off, it makes you think about where you're going now.

“If full on, we will go and get two points next week. If we don't need to do that, we’ll take a look at the situation as we go through the week.”

Reel also pointed to the opportunity to utilise his squad further.

“Exactly. Yeah, if we are, we are. But listen, there's a lot of lads, if you had to go after it next week, you could put them in anyway, there's no doubt about that.

“But yeah, as I say, recovery, we'll see where we're at, we'll look at the table. It's not that I don't believe you, but we'll look at the table, and we'll go from there.”