Inside Track: A sad end to a great season
Inside Track with Joe Carroll
For the latest generation of Louth supporters, and the one before that, this has been a season like no other. A pity it had to end in the manner in which it did.
Thirteen games played in league and championship, nine of them ending in victory, four in defeat. Three of the wins came against counties that have each won the All-Ireland in the past decade.
A place in the league’s Division Two was retained, and by piecing together a three-match winning run in the championship, supporters were taken to a place all but only a few dozen of them would have previously visited
But it has ended – and in a most a devastating fashion. Louth weren’t so much beaten by Mayo In Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final as routed, finishing on the wrong end of a 3-23 to 0-15 scoreline.
No-one could have envisaged it ending like that, least of all the red-cladded among the sell-out Croke Park attendance of 82,000-plus.
The season had reached boiling point, a first championship win over Dublin since 1973, and after that a smash-and-grab in the Inniskeen game with Armagh. Fourteen men were then good enough to beat Monaghan in the quarter-finals.
Saturday’s meeting with Mayo had the county represented in an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time in almost seven decades.
Could there be a better stage to once again display the qualities that had made the rest of the country sit up and admire what was going on here over the past number of weeks?
The opportunity was there, but, sadly, wasn’t taken. On terms for most of the first half, Gavin Devlin’s men were swamped after the break, taking almost twenty minutes to claim the first of just four second half points and finishing with more than a double score defeat.
By that stage Craig Lennon was on the sideline nursing an injury that had ended his involvement after just twenty-two minutes – while the side’s other All-Star, Sam Mulroy, heavily bandaged after the interval, was clearly unable to do himself justice, he, too, having sustained a first half injury.
That has to be factored in to any analysis of the performance. Both have been most influential in all that’s been good about the team in recent years.
With one missing, and the other only able to play a supporting role, the chances of a winning outcome were greatly diminished.
However, what can’t be ignored is that even before Lennon and Mulroy shipped injuries, Louth had being making mistakes, which, in most cases led to Mayo scores.
The first, a goal, came after the ball had been given away in midfield. That trend continued throughout the game, and it was costly.
Poor passing, wrong decision-making, turn-overs and a failure to take chances contributed, and had it not been for, in the main, Niall McDonnell’s shot-stopping and Conor Grimes’ marksmanship, more than four points would have separated the sides at the break, Mayo ahead by 2-9 to 0-11.
But there was more to Mayo building that lead. In qualifying for this stage, the Westerners had greatly benefitted from what their full-forward line had to offer.
Between them, Darragh Beirne, Ryan O’Donoghue and Kobe McDonald had claimed all but four points of their side’s 23 in the quarter-final defeat of Cork.
They were at it again on Saturday, dividing Mayo’s first half-tally between them, and finishing with 2-17, O’Donoghue on 1-11.
The trio had been seen as a major threat before the game – what they conjured up was too much for the Louth full-back line in particular and defence in general.
McDonnell’s heroics prevented the winning score amounting even higher. One particular save in the opening half was as good as you could wish to see.
Yet, the St Fechin’s clubman’s performance wasn’t flawless. Some of his kick-outs were badly placed, bringing pressure back on the defence.
But that was the way with most Louth players, any good work they did being cancelled by error. Dara McDonnell, a candidate for young player-of-the year and an All-Star, made some fine catches early on, but was under pressure after that.
Even Conor Grimes, Louth’s best player, gave the ball away on occasions, while Ciarán Downey was fairly anonymous in the third quarter during which the game was put beyond his side’s recall.
Probably for the first time in his inter-county career, Sam Mulroy ended the game scoreless from play. His place-kicking wasn’t good, and that robbed the team of an asset that had been so crucial in previous games. The team captain didn’t show his true form – injury was undoubtedly a factor.
This quintet were stand-out players going out – that they didn’t deliver was a setback.
Saturday’s game apart, it has, as said earlier, been the best season Louth has had in years. It will be defined differently by others from beyond the county because of this reverse, but those who are consistent followers will have 2026 red-lettered.