Reel: There's a lot of learning to come from Louth U20 win

Louth are back in the Leinster U20 Football Championship final for a third year in a row after a 0-17 to 0-8 win over Longford this afternoon.

Manager Fergal Reel shared his thoughts afterwards, he said: “Yeah, difficult game to sum up really. Disappointed with a lot of aspects of it, obviously. Then you win by 11 points, they score one point from play the whole game.

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“So, you know, there's positives in there if you look for them, but we need to get better. They should have been closer, absolutely. Now, listen, you have to look for the reasons for this. Is it because there's no game for a couple of weeks?

“You know, did we, no disrespect to Longford, did we underestimate them, and we shouldn't because we're in no position to underestimate anybody. So, you have to look for the reasons for that. There's certainly a lot of learning to come from it anyway.”

There were long spells where Louth struggled for control and allowed Longford to dominate possession.

“We went in possibly six points up at halftime, and it flattered us because they, I think, kicked two pointers over the year, maybe two in the first half, not sure.

“And they had a lot of possession. We struggled to win the primary ball around the middle area on both kickouts.

“I think we got a wee bit of grips to that just close to halftime. We sorted out both channels down the sidelines, and we got a few balls there.

“We got a few turnovers and got a few scores on the back of that. So it probably flattered us to go in with a six-point lead. But then the second half, probably a similar start to it, possibly.

“And then probably in the last 15 minutes, we probably cut away from it a bit and maybe managed the game well.

“Maybe in the last 15 minutes or so, set up a few simple scores on the edge of the D by working the ball well. So, it is positive, but it wouldn't be good enough.”

Kickouts

Much of that came from the middle third, where Louth found it difficult to secure their own kickouts, Longford’s physical presence causing issues before adjustments were made.

“As I said, they were going to both channels. So once we got the midfielders spread out on each side of the pitch, it helped us, and then we got a couple of turnovers, possibly from the two midfielders, and we got a couple of scores on that.

“So, yeah, and then we addressed a few things at halftime. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn't. But it's a difficult game to sum up. Longford, good, strong team.

“Big men around the middle. Difficult to deal with that in the modern game when they have a team that is maybe 5, 6, or 7, 6+ footers around the middle area.

“No matter where you go about it, you still have to try and get the ball around them, which is a difficult thing to do, but we'll look to see other ways of dealing with it.”

Longford

Reel stressed there was no complacency and pointed to the quality within the Longford side and their recent underage success.

“Oh, there was absolutely no underestimating them unless the boys weren't listening to what we were saying, and I don't think that happened.

“So, listen, you have to give Longford a lot of credit there. There is a lot of quality there. I know the chances didn't take them, but the next day they would take them.

“They've won a Leinster U17, I think, maybe two years back. So, they're no mugs and probably these sorts of games.

“And this is not being patronising, probably these games will bring them on because they're another year with this team and it'll help them loads.

“We've been there, and we're still probably there in a way. But, as I said, we look at our own performance, and that's where we're at.”

Clinical Louth

Louth were more clinical in front of goal, even if decision-making was not always right.

“A conversion rate, I think, was at half-time, possibly could have been eight from 12 or eight from 13 or something, which is not too bad. And then probably we took two shots for goal chances in the first half when it wasn't really the option to take.

“So, yeah, a load of learning in it, but it wouldn't be good enough the next day, whether you play Meath or Kildare. That's no disrespect to Longford. Meath is a seasoned team, and Kildare is a seasoned team with a lot of tradition behind them.

“We're trying to build that tradition, and it just wouldn't be good enough.”

Final

Attention turns to the final, where Meath or Kildare await, both expected to bring a stronger test, but Reel sees this as a timely warning ahead of that occasion.

“We're going into a final, you can look at loads of ways, we're going in, listen, we have that cup at the minute. It can be taken off us now.

“We hadn't got it last year, so we're going to get some this year. If we don't perform, we'll lose something. So there's loads of ways of looking at this.

“But we'll look at the performance today, the performance we can improve for the next day and on the back of that situation is what will determine how that finishes up.”