Campbell rues missed chances as Louth fall to Dublin
Louth defender Dermot Campbell admitted his side were left to reflect on what might have been against Dubs
Louth defender Dermot Campbell admitted his side were left to reflect on what might have been after their Leinster SFC semi-final defeat to Dublin.
There was a sense of frustration in the Wee County camp following the final whistle. Campbell pointed to inefficiency in front of goal as a decisive factor on a difficult afternoon.
He said: “A difficult day, I don't really feel like we put our best foot forward, but credit to Dublin. Came with an intensity and a relentlessness and a bit of better efficiency in front of the posts than us.
“A tough one to take because I think we felt like we left a lot out there. It was one of those games where what could have been, but yeah, full credit to Dublin.”
Campbell acknowledged that while Louth expected a higher level, the reality of Dublin’s performance still hit hard once the game began.
“Yeah, we were fully expecting that, and we knew from the win against Wexford it was going to be a step up, no disrespect to Wexford.
“The Dubs are the Dubs, and I think nearly the Wicklow performance for them where a lot of people, probably a lot of criticism coming from that for Dublin.
“It probably was the best thing that could happen to them, and I've said it before; I've said it to you guys in the media.
“The Dubs are probably the most dangerous team in the country when they're written off, and the bear was probably poked that day after Wicklow.
“Unfortunately, we felt the brunt of it today. We battled well, but ultimately, I don't know our stats in front of goal. Just one of those days, I don't think when we took our chances.
Blue wave
As the game wore on, Dublin’s sustained pressure told, and Louth struggled to cope with the relentless attacking waves, particularly in the second half.
“It's tough, it's nearly like trying to keep the dam out there in the second half when we're not taking our chances, and then we're under the pump on our own kickout, and they're getting their kickouts away.
“It felt like we defended well, but ultimately, wave after wave, the dam eventually broke, and as I said, we have to look at the efficiency in front of goal.
“In fairness to our lads, they have been clinical all year, and I still maintain one of the sharpest attacks around, but just ultimately today it didn't click and didn't happen.”
Late call-up
Campbell’s own involvement came unexpectedly after a late injury to Daire Nally in the warm-up.
“Unfortunately, poor Daire (Nally) just picked up a knock in the warmup, so it came as a little bit of a shock, but I suppose I was mentally ready to go anyway in terms of maybe being called upon at a later stage.
“You just have to mentally prepare, like I know I was disappointed originally to be not in there, but you do your analysis as if you're starting the game, you fuel up as if you're starting the game, you prep the same.
“So yeah, it was okay, it just took a couple of minutes of adjusting in the warmup, but yeah, unfortunately for Daire, he just missed out today.”
All-Ireland series
Attention now turns to the All-Ireland series, with Louth aiming to regroup and go again.
“I'm sure the video session over the next couple of nights or whenever we do it will be difficult, but look, you have to take growth and learn from that, which hopefully we'll do.
“I suppose we've been on the receiving end of a couple of ambushes now in the All-Ireland series, coming off it with provincial finals where the team probably has four or five weeks prep, and we'll find out on Monday who we have.
“So, we need to use that to our advantage, maybe take a couple of days, I don't know, to reset and then get back on the wagon and train hard and prepare for whatever it is, three, four, five weeks.
“We have to try and use that to our advantage because, as I said, we've been on the receiving end of a couple of those ambushes in the last few years. But yeah, we'll just have to lick our wounds and go again.”