Inside Track: This is a special meeting of neighbouring counties
Inside Track with Joe Carroll
There have been many games between Louth and Armagh teams over the years, in challenges, tournaments and, most of all, National Leagues.
Now comes the first ever at championship level.
A game that was made for Croke Park, but is instead going ahead in Inniskeen’s Grattan Park, brings the counties together in the second round of the All-Ireland series.
If there are supporters in either of these neighbouring counties that haven’t had their appetites whetted, then they don’t know of the rivalry that has existed for years on the periphery, but more especially in recent times.
Louth people, mostly those in the northern part of the county, could only look on over the past 25 years – many in envy – as the tangerines flags flew high in celebration of Ulster championship and a couple of All-Ireland wins.
Many were pitched on poles, houses and public places on the south side of the Border, Armagh natives keen to display their loyalty.
There’s always been banter and some goodwill. However, when the Armagh cavalcade scooted full-speed through Dundalk after the All-Ireland win of 2002, the disappointment, not to mention annoyance, was palpable.
It’s been a tradition – going back to when Down, in 1960, became the first county to carry the Sam Maguire across the Border – for All-Ireland-winning teams to make a stop at the town’s Square.
Down did it again when they retained the title, and the 1994 Derry team stopped off even though it wasn’t on their direct route home.
All of that said, it has to be recorded that on the evening Louth played Tyrone in last year’s All-Ireland under-20 final, the Silverbridge club – of which GAA President, Jarlath Burns, is a member and former player – had its clubrooms and surrounds bedecked in red-and-white.
This was a nod to another of their former footballers, Fergal Reel, manager of the Louth team.
Picture the scene: Louth and Armagh run on to the field on to Croke Park on Sunday to the roar of their supporters in a crowd of 30,000 or maybe more, all agog with excitement.
The place is awash with red and tangerine. The game can’t start soon enough.But it’s not going to be like that.
After all the speculation, the game is going ahead in Kavanagh Country. Throw-in is at 1 o’clock, and the RTE cameras will be there to cover the action.
It has to be said that Louth have a good record at the venue. It has housed a couple of wins over Meath (in league and championship) and another over Cork. A real home away from home.
But Croke Park hasn’t been too bad either. Louth’s last three visits resulted in two wins, last year’s historic Leinster championship final defeat of Meath and the recent heartwarming win over Dublin.
There’d have been a third had the clock stopped less than a minute sooner in the league rematch with Meath at the beginning of this season.
So, really, there’s nothing not to like about headquarters? But no doubt feeling chances of a win would be increased, those with whom the final decision rested opted for Grattan Park.
This means that the many thousands of supporters who’d want to be there won’t, and instead will have to confine themselves to a seat in front of the telly.
But regardless of how Sunday’s game results, there’ll be another Louth outing, and, hopefully, this will give supporters the chance to clear their throats.
The most recent meeting of the sides was at Armagh’s Athletic Grounds. It was in the first round of last year’s league, and on the night of a strong wind, Armagh made it home with just one point to spare.
Had the elements not been against him, Sam Mulroy might have nailed a last-minute 45 instead of seeing it drop short.
It was a Division Two tie, and Armagh went on to win promotion. Louth didn’t do too badly, either, finishing high enough up the table to retain their status.
Since then, Armagh have won a provincial title. That doesn’t make them any more successful than Louth.
The months which followed the Athletic Grounds clash saw the team managed by the in-the-news Ger Brennan scale the Leinster heights.
Though the All-Ireland series which followed was unproductive, the provincial success was one for the ages.
This season, with Gavin Devlin at the helm, has had more wins than defeats, several of the former coming from the top drawer. Last Sunday week’s was the most celebrated.
That’s easy to understand. There hadn’t been a championship win over Dublin since long before any of the present panel, and the man running the show first saw the light of day.
The result was vastly different from the one yielded by the meeting of the sides a month earlier in the provincial series.
The performance in the three-point win wasn’t flawless, but had still so many good things going for it. There are many who believe it can be followed by further success on Sunday.
Just some of the highlights: epic defending by the likes of Donal McKenny, Daire McNally and Craig Lennon, and goalie Niall McDonnell’s mostly well placed kick-outs and a wonderful second half save, protecting a hard-earned lead.
Then there were James Maguire’s two goals, the youngster showing no ill-effects of a difficult debut a month earlier.
As well as defending well, Lennon came in with 1-2, just one point more than Kieran McArdle, a young player who is firmly establishing himself at this level.
Ciarán Byrne’s scores and, in particular, that late soar of his into the skies have won widespread recognition; a repeat on Sunday would be welcome.
He played a big part after coming in as a sub, and the same can be said of Ryan Burns and Tommy Durnin.
The amount of work Ciarán Downey got through was immense, the Blues man, like Lennon, a vital link between defence and attack with his piercing runs.
If Sam Mulroy wasn’t at his very best, it could be that he hadn’t fully shaken off the affects of the injury he sustained in the first game with Dublin.
His leadership qualities allied to his marksmanship from placed-balls and play are a vital component going into Sunday.
All of what was seen the last day came against one of the most experienced and honour-laden teams in the country.
Eight have 47 All-Ireland medals between them, as well as numerous All-Stars.
Armagh can’t match that, but manager Kieran McGeeney has still got several feted players to call on. Along with other established colleagues, they’ll present a serious challenge.
Meeting it head on, coming up with their very best, Louth can piece together a win to sit alongside last Sunday week’s and the one at Croke Park on May 11th, 2025.