Louth “have a lot of improvements to make” says Brennan

Louth senior football manager Ger Brennan shared his thoughts following his team’s narrow two-point defeat to Roscommon on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the first loss of their campaign, Brennan was candid in his assessment of the performance, acknowledging Roscommon’s superiority on the day. 

He said: “Roscommon were full value for the win. The shot-to-score ratio - we were at 37% overall, and Roscommon were at about 67%, so that kind of tells its own story.  

“We were blocked far too much, we kicked it wide far too much, even when sometimes there wasn’t as much pressure on us.  

“And with the ball in hand, some sloppy passing. It was quite a disjointed performance. 

“But to lose to Roscommon by two points - they have been in Division One for a long time - it does show a bit of resilience that the lads kept on fighting. But ultimately, disappointing.” 

Despite the loss, the Wee County battled hard, particularly in the latter stages, and pushed Roscommon all the way.  

Brennan acknowledged his players’ fight but stressed the need for a better start. “Again, that is a testament to the lads—they never give up, they never say die,” he said. 

“The challenge really is can we play like that from minute one as opposed to waiting until we are six, seven, or whatever it was behind.  

“I guess to get the proverbial finger out and start going at teams. So that is something we are going to look at to see if we can come out of the blocks a bit quicker.” 

One of the key concerns on the day was Louth’s kick-out strategy, which Brennan admitted needs work. 

He said: “Well, I haven’t got the stats there in front of me, but I think everyone was there with their own eyes - it wasn’t pretty, and we have an awful lot of work to do on that.” 

“I like the new kick-out rule. I think it is exciting, and it adds an awful lot of value and competition within games as opposed to what was there before.  

“That is something that we clearly haven’t gotten to grips with yet. So, a bit of work to be done over the next two weeks on that.” 

The Reds also missed crucial scoring opportunities, particularly in the first half, something that Brennan feels his players need to learn from.

“We probably snapped at them a bit too early or slightly out of range. One or two more passes and we would have got in,” he said.  

“I am absolutely not making excuses, but the personnel we had on the field, particularly from some of the newer fellas, they should learn from today from some of them poorer options to shoot.  

“Hopefully, then it will improve going into Round 3 of the National League.” 

The new two-pointer rule has already shown its impact across the divisions and is something the manager acknowledged as a game-changer. 

He said: “We have seen that last weekend across the four divisions and even there today - a five-point lead or a seven-point lead isn’t what it used to be.” 

“Work a couple of two-pointers and all sorts of things can happen, and you can keep yourself in the match. I think it has brought an exciting element to our games.” 

One of the positives for Louth was the impact of Val Leddy, who came off the bench to score a goal on his National League debut, mirroring Seán Reynolds’ feat from the previous week. 

Brennan said: “Val Leddy took a phone call from me on the Thursday before we played Fermanagh to see if he was able to make himself available, and I think we all saw how well he did against Fermanagh that particular evening. 

“Now he is after coming on in his debut in the National League and scoring a goal. It was also great to see Seán Reynolds’ goal last week too.  

“So, we are trying to develop a bit of depth in the squad and a bit of competition, but ultimately, some of the fundamentals were poor—shot selection, handling, and our kickouts. We have an awful lot of improvements to be made.” 

With injuries affecting squad selection, Brennan is hopeful of having more options available in the coming weeks. 

“That is a challenge to any county panel, and the beauty of the squad this year is that there is much more depth there, which doesn’t make the loss of some of those players as painful,” he said.  

“I suppose it creates more competition in the squad, but I wouldn’t be making any excuses today.” 

On whether those injured players will return for the next fixture, Brennan remains optimistic. 

“You would be very hopeful. If it was knockout football there today, you would have seen a lot more of those experienced guys. But it wasn’t, so you have to kind of play the long game.” 

With a two-week break before their next match against Cavan, Brennan was unsure whether the gap in fixtures would be beneficial. 

He said: “I don’t know. You have to take a couple of days off as a manager, and players can be bored. Everyone has put an awful lot of work into the first couple of rounds.  

“But it is nice to get that bit of a breather and just reassess where we are at and have a look at injuries and then plan forward for Round 3 to Round 5 to come thick and fast.” 

Finally, he dismissed any impact the venue change from Ardee to Drogheda had on the performance. 

“The pitch here (in Drogheda) is in great nick, so credit to them,” Brennan said.  

“We have never, as a player, made excuses - if it was with St. Vincents in Dublin or to the lads here - we don’t care. We have an awful lot of improvements to be made.

“It is a game of Gaelic football, and you have to represent the county and the jersey as best you can.” 

The Wee County will now regroup and look ahead to their clash with Cavan where they aim to bounce back and correct the mistakes from Sunday’s defeat.