Louth boss looking forward to Monaghan All-Ireland quarter-final clash

Louth GAA senior football manager, Gavin Devlin, says his side are ready to embrace one of the biggest games in the county's modern history after being drawn against Monaghan in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

The Wee County are just 70 minutes away from a first All-Ireland semi-final appearance since 1957 after dramatic victories over Dublin and Armagh secured their place in the last eight.

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He said, “I suppose just thinking about ourselves, we're just delighted to be here. We're coming in the back of two big performances against Dublin and Armagh.

“Both games went down to the wire, and our boys showed a lot of great spirit to get over the line in both games, and we're just delighted to be here and look, wow, to be in the last eight and looking forward to the weekend.

“Look, we're just delighted to be in the draw, and yeah, it's Monaghan, so looking forward to that game now.”

Louth's impressive run is something the boss believes has been developing for a number of years.

“I suppose from where I've come in a number of years back now, we've had those sorts of setbacks. We played Kildare in the Leinster Championship at the very beginning.

“We had a very bad performance, and we got a bit of a tanking that day, and we played Dublin in the Leinster final and got a tanking. We played Kerry, and all our qualifiers got a tanking, and they keep picking themselves up.

“At the start of the National League this year, too, after the Cork game and the Meath game, we were in a dodgy enough position, but again, they reset and refocused and came again.

“We are at a place now where there's new territory and new ground. This is the type of game that we've been trying to strive towards all year and hoping that we get this stage to see how far we have actually come.”

The win over Armagh in Inniskeen not only secured a place in the quarter-finals but also earned the Reds an extra week's rest.

“The truth be told, after the game in Inniskeen when we beat Armagh, that was a major, major carrot to get the extra week and be able to go away and look at ourselves and see where we can improve things in our own game and look forward to the quarter-finals. We'll not shy away from that.

“Of course, that's the route we wanted to go, but in my own playing days and my early days with Tyrone, we came through the qualifiers on a brilliant route and played week on week, and we found rhythm, and we got into our groove. We were very good at that for year on year with Tyrone.

“There's many different permutations you can make and look at, but ultimately, as I mentioned, it comes down to 70 minutes and just letting loose and fighting for every single ball and never giving up and never letting up. It's all that.”

Positive mood

The atmosphere around the camp remains strong as Louth prepare for another big game.

“The atmosphere was brilliant, and it has been brilliant from I’ve come in here. We've had good days, and we've had bad days, but the boys live in this bubble, and they're a fantastic bunch of boys to be around.

“You mentioned training, as Jimmy McGuinness alluded to on Sunday, there's very little training going on this week. A lot of sore bodies, but the energy has been good, and we had a decent session on Saturday morning there.

“So, yes, looking forward to this week and maybe getting a wee bit more done this week.”

Devlin also praised Dara McDonnell following another outstanding display against the Orchard County.

“Dara, right from the off this year, has been a leader for us. We've been moving him around several different spots in the field at different times, working on different permutations, and he's able to adapt, and that's great about him.

“There's other players standing up as well, and there's other players who have been out injured and just trying to get back in again, and there's a lot of moving parts.

“So, yes, there's a really good collective cohesion at the moment, and we're in a good place.”

Support

Louth are hoping supporters travel to Croke Park in huge numbers to help them into the last four.

“At this stage, it's not confirmed, but it sounds very much like we're going to be playing on Sunday, probably the first game. I expect a massive crowd in for that first game. Monaghan and Louth will take a serious follow-on, and there'll be a brilliant colour that day.

“The benefit of being in Croke Park yesterday for the Donegal-Dublin game, there's an unbelievable atmosphere, and it just gives you the shivers to know that we're going to be partaking in that and we're going to have our day out and experience that as well.

“We want to show them what our boys deserve, to put their lives on hold and the way they train and the way they apply themselves. You're always thinking, will we get a chance to experience this and get our day out?

“They deserve it, and our supporters deserve it; they have been mammoth as well. In Inniskeen, when we won, the atmosphere after the match is something you take with you to the grave, and we just hope that we're going to experience that sooner than later again.”