Louth to face off against Westmeath in 2023 Leinster Championship
We might be still in midst of the club portion of the GAA calendar, but the first real taste of next year's inter county season was announced earlier today as the Provincial draws for 2023 took place live on RTE Radio.
The Wee County were put into the the pot for the preliminary round, alongside the six other sides that had failed to make the semi-finals in last year's competition.
Six of these teams were set to duke it out for a place in the Quarters, while one team would receive a bye to the next round. Luck was in Louth's favour as they were the team left in the hat after the three ties had been paired.
Next up could have been Dublin, Meath or last year's conqueror's Kildare. But what was drawn by Leinster Chairperson Pat Teehan was a tie between the Wee County and Westmeath. Louth came out on top when they sides' collided in last last year's National League in Ardee, 1-15 to 1-13.
Should they defeat the Lake County again, they are set square off against whoever comes out on top between Offaly, Longford and and Meath.
Mickey Harte's troops had a good year in 2022, bringing home the Division Three National League crown to earn their spot in the Sam Maguire Cup. That title challenge was then ended away to Cork.
In Leinster they had accounted for Carlow by five goals, before being put to the sword by a strong Kildare outfit.
The Leinster draw in full can be seen below.
Leinster SFC 2023 draw
First Round
Longford v Offaly
Wicklow v Carlow
Wexford v Laois
Quarter-Finals
Kildare v Wicklow/Carlow
Dublin v Wexford/Laois
Meath v Longford/Offaly
Westmeath v Louth
Semi-Finals
Kill/Wic/Car v Dub/Wex/Laois
Mea/Long/Off v West/Louth