Louth push champions to the limit giving us good reason to be proud of them

We dared to dream at Croke Park on Sunday. Not once, not twice, but three times. Given no chance by all and sundry, their own supporters included, Louth senior footballers were heroic in defeat, going down to multiple Leinster champions, Dublin, by just four points.

The word ‘just’ is not misplaced. Prior to this, Dublin hadn’t been beaten in 41 games at provincial level, and in that remarkable sequence, their average winning margin was just over 14 points.

They scored 1-19 on Sunday, but at the break had just six points on the board. Louth had seven, and as we tried to absorb it all, we wondered was this going to be Louth’s first championship win in a meeting of the counties in over half a century – would it be the first time for the title to come this way since the tumultuous year of 1957?

Hopes were tempered when Dublin began the second half in whirlwind fashion, scoring four times to Louth’s one. But then came the first goal of the match, Ciarán Keenan keeping his cool while under pressure to beat Stephen Cluxton from close range.

Score: Louth 1-8, Dublin 0-10; 44 minutes played. Back in dreamland. The wind is now in Louth’s back, Sam Mulroy is imperious with his frees, and every time Conor Grimes is in possession, we expect something to come off it. And it did, most often.

At the back, Dublin’s vaunted forward-line is being continuously frustrated, oftentimes having to contend with the entire Louth contingent.

It’s nip and tuck for the next eight minutes or so, the sides level on two occasions. Dublin edge in front again, but then comes the games turning point. Having kept his goal intact in the Wexford and Kildare matches, Louth goalkeeper, Niall McDonnell, is beaten by a blunder of his making.

Choosing to go short with a kick-put – having gone long on most other occasions – the St Fechin’s clubman can only look on in horror as the player he earmarks the ball for is beaten to it by Jack McCaffrey. Con O’Callaghan is taken into the play: the result is a goal. After that, the Dublin lead grows to seven points.

But Louth keep plugging away. Grimes, a sterong contender for man-of-the-match along with Mulro9y, scores his fourth point, and then Craig Lennon gets on the end of a swift move to box the ball to the net. Cluxton has to stop once again, the first time he’s conceded two goals in a championship game since 2010.

There’s still four between the sides, but there’s no-one in red giving up on their team – somehow another goal might be engineered, we hope. Referee Noel Mooney is a spoilsport when he says there’s no time left.

The day had begun with rumour filling the air. Word spread like wildfire at Dundalk’s Clarke Station as train after train pulled out. “Sam Mulroy is not playing and neither is Tom Jackson”.

Dropped jaws all round. Whereas the feeling among followers before this was that a defeat in single figures would be honourable, now there was a revision upwards.

Sam played. His left thigh might have been heavily strapped, but there was nothing wrong with his right peg. The exhibition of free-taking the team captain put on was exceptional, the best since Kevin Beahan was in his pomp.

Two of his converts came from beyond the 45 metre mark, one of them with the breeze facing him. And in general play he was active, having a hand in the moves that led to the two goals.

Along with the excellent Grimes, Mulroy caused panic in the Dublin defence – Ciarán Downey might have done the same had only the ball been posted to him more often.

Donal McKenny had a task – keep McMenamin on a tight rerin – and he performed it to perfection. Conall McKeever had a fine first half, Bevan Duffy and Tommy Durnin were hardworking at midfield without ever quelling the threat posed by player who got man-of-the-match, Brian Fenton, and Craig Lennon and Ciarán Keenan took their goals well.

More than heartening was the ten minutes or so turned in by Ciarán Byrne on his introduction. Fully free from the injury that had him on the sidelines for over a year, the St Mochta’s man showed us he has a huge part to play in the All-Ireland series.

This was a Louth team’s best championship performance since the 2010 Leinster semi-final defeat of Kildare. The football played was much different from that which we saw that day at Navan, and, you’d have to say, less attractive.

But that’s how it is now, oftentimes only one half of the field occupied by 29 players. That happened quite often on Sunday, and from a Louth viewpoint, it worked, with Dublin’s renowned full-of-running forward-line often left gasping for air.

Dublin have shown in the past – not too often, mind you – that when it’s not going their way, they can get ratty, lose their shape. Just wondering, had that goal not gone in would we have seen some of it on Sunday, and would it have been to Louth’s advantage?

What Ger Brennan’s men did was to give real meaning to the slogan, Louth And Proud. The overwhelming favourites and All-Ireland title-holders, were pushed to the limit, given an examination they certainly weren’t expecting.

If Louth were second-best in Leinster before this, the are now closer to the leaders. Twenty-one points divided the sides when they met at this stage 12 months ago. Four on Sunday. And remember, Dublin won the All-Ireland in between.