U21s were first to fall
December 30, 2009Louth's U21s were originally due to play Dublin in the first round of the Leinster championship at Drogheda on Sunday February 8. That was the weekend the nation was bombarded by arctic conditions, and the match was called off due to the wonderful wintry weather. Thus, the Reds were granted a stay of execution and got to remain in the hat for another two weeks…
The winners were due to face Meath in the second round and, unsurprisingly, the Dubs were installed as red-hot favourites to advance. Once more, senior county boss Eamonn McEneaney was also in charge of the U21s, and the Geraldines clubman adopted the usual approach of preparing both squads together. The players put in an enormous amount of work in the gym and McEneaney was fortunate enough to be able to call on five or six county seniors, who had hit the ground running in the national football league and could lend some vital experience to his U21 squad.
Three challenge matches were organised against neighbouring counties and, after losing the first one to Armagh, Louth bounced back with encouraging wins over Monaghan and Down to send them into the Dublin challenge in a reasonably confident frame of mind. However, there was never any doubting the enormity of the task facing the Reds and the loss of senior star Aidan O'Brien (dislocated shoulder) was a real blow, while the manager also had to leave out his son, Jim.
Commenting on the postponement, the manager said it would have little or no bearing on the result: "It's hard to say if the postponement will help us or not. I suppose you could look at it that some of the lads weren't quite fit enough and hadn't enough games under their belts, but others were just right for the match. I'm a great believer that what is for you won't pass you… You could look at it as a bit of a nuisance but it's the same for both teams. What it does give us is a bit more time to work with the players and get a little bit more ball practice in. I have no worries about the extra fortnight's delay, however. If we were going away from home, then you might but, because all the fellas are tuned in and giving it their all, there's no problem and if anything the extra two weeks will only intensify their desire to go out and win the game."
In the meantime, Louth used the extra two weeks well and played another couple of challenges against Crossmaglen and Leitrim to complete preparations for the February 22 date with Dublin at the Gaelic Grounds (2.30pm). Going into the game itself, there were fresh injury concerns around Newtown Blues clubman Andy McDonnell and O'Connells' Sean Connolly. The latter would play for 13 minutes after being introduced from the bench, but the Reds were effectively missing four key men.
On the day, a vastly bigger, stronger and more physical Dublin side proved to have the measure of the aptly-named Wee County as they powered to a 3-12 to 2-8 victory. Even before the ball was thrown in, the height and intimidating dimensions of the Dublin players suggested that it was going to be a difficult afternoon for the hosts. So it proved, and this was something the manager alluded to in his post-match comments: "You don't have to be a genius to work out that the size of the lads out there for Dublin had a big bearing on it. It was the same last year against Laois and you should see the size of the Meath team this year. They're obviously getting a bigger pick and that's the reality of it, but we have to try and get around what we're lacking in terms of numbers and in terms of what way we prepare everyone, so that when they hit 19 they're men.
"You have two options - roll over and die or keep trying to come back and change it. Sooner or later it is going to be changed."
The good news is that twelve of the 15 who started against Dublin will be available to Louth at U21 level again in 2010. The manager decided immediately post-Dublin to keep the bulk of that squad together to train with his seniors in an effort to prepare them as best as possible for the challenges that lie ahead in the coming season. It will be interesting to see how that works out. Could Louth finally make a breakthrough at U21 in 2010? Well, that's for another day and the fact for the time being is that they didn't even come close to doing so in '09…
Against Dublin, Louth did okay in the first half, though they could have been much further than 1-5 to 1-4 adrift at the break as the Dubs had six wides in the first half while the men in red had none. Dean Rock's goals at the start of either half for Dublin ultimately proved decisive. Barney's son caught Louth cold twice and his scores provided a platform that Dublin used to full effect.
Louth still had hope when Paraic Smith's goal late in the second half momentarily drew them level and had the home fans dreaming of a shock. Dublin had looked much sharper and more disciplined up until that stage but the Louth goal temporarily put a different perspective on the game at 1-4 apiece. But Dublin never panicked and continued to boss territorially.
Rock's second goal just 28 seconds after the restart drove the dagger into Louth's slim hopes and Dublin followed up with three successive points to put the game out of the Wee County's reach. 1-1 from substitute Barry O'Rourke rubbed salt in the wounds. There may have been just seven points in it at the final whistle, but Jim Gavin's charges cruised for much of the second half.
Louth didn't do themselves justice at all during the game. They got off to the worst possible start when Rock opened the scoring with a fourth-minute goal and Jason Clarke got on the scoresheet for the Reds as they trailed by 1-3 to 0-1 after eleven minutes. The home side held Dublin scoreless for the next 18 minutes but only managed scores from Dean Matthews (2) and Derek Maguire. The latter's effort meant they trailed by just two points after 26 minutes. It could have been even better for the losers had not Derek Mulligan's goal attempt been bravely blocked by midfielder Colm Murphy.
Dreadnots clubman Smith scored a superb goal on the hour to level the sides but Dublin still had time to edge back ahead before the short whistle.
The wheels came off in the third quarter: Smith's two frees were Louth's only scores of this period as they fell behind by 3-9 to 1-6. The match was over as any kind of contest before Smith (another free) and Maguire (1-1) put some respectability on the scoreboard. But Dublin were long since home and hosed and will argue that they had eased up by then.
Louth, 2009 Leinster U21 FC V Dublin: Darren Kearney; Benny Connolly, Peter Nixon, Jason Clarke (0-1); Padraig Rath, Declan Byrne, Gerard Hoey; Sean McCann, Shane Brennan; Niall Conlon, Paraic Smith (1-3), Derek Maguire (1-2); Dean Matthews (0-2), Kevin Rogers, Derek Mulligan. Subs: Gareth Moran, Brian Duffy, Andy McDonnell. Tweet
