As Louth minor manager in 2008, Johnny McDonnell came in for some harsh and undue criticism before the season began in earnest. It was the kind of jazz that would test the patience and loyalty of any gael. But the St Fechins clubman stuck to his guns, stayed focused on the task at hand, and steered the Wee County U18s to within touching distance of successive provincial semi-final appearances. All in all, not a bad year's work. When a few pre-season results went wrong for the county minors, some people in Louth lost all sense of perspective. Granted, the performances in the Ulster league were far from inspiring and the Tyrone result was embarrassing, but this is Louth we're talking about here. Compared to Laois, Westmeath, Meath and Dublin, the Wee County has no tradition whatsoever at underage level - so why were expectations so unreasonably high? It's frustrating that the much-lauded Development Squads haven't yet produced a breakthrough team and no county should accept constant defeats without asking questions, but is it right to voice protests before a team has had the opportunity to perform in the main competition? What exactly is failure anyway? Perspective is difficult to find in sport, but eliminating holders Laois and Kildare from the race in Leinster must surely count for something, even if the team did lose narrowly upon its quarter-final trip to Longford. Ultimately, the manager was disappointed that the lads didn't go a little further: "In the end, I was very disappointed," he concedes. "I really thought we had another game in us. We had a great win against Laois and a good win over Kildare in Drogheda, so confidence was high. I thought we were every bit as good a team as Longford, but on the day we weren't quite as sharp as I'd have liked. It's a real pity. There was a big break after that game and if we had got to the semi-final and had a break until July, who knows what might have happened?" It would have been interesting, especially considering that a few key Wee County players who missed the Longford match could possibly have returned for a semi-final some six or eight weeks later. Alas, we'll never know as the 1-13 to 0-12 defeat on May 10 ended Louth's fantastic revival (after they had lost their opener to Meath). "We were as good as them [Longford]," says Johnny. "The referee said before the game that he wouldn't stop play for anything but a head injury. However, he stopped it six times in the last ten minutes and the antics of some of the Longford players, who were lying on the ground, were unbelievable. That was really disappointing." Not one to make excuses, Johnny accepts that this has now crept more and more into the game, yet another blight on our national sport imported from the Premiership. Looking back on the minors' season in general, he comments: "Over the four games, we played some lovely football. We tried not to overdo it with the handpassing and to play a good brand of football. I'd do exactly the same thing again. Longford negated us the last day, but we still could have beaten them. Even in the second half against Meath, we were on top. The lads were exceptional against Laois and Kildare. Normally, if you beat Laois and Kildare in Leinster, you'd be halfway there but the minor championship is a very hard one to win now." How good is this crop of players and how much more can we expect to see of them? "The next twelve months will tell us a lot. Many of them were playing senior football already in 2008 and I'd like to think that all of them - even the fringe players who didn't get much playing time - developed during their time with the county minors. Jim McEneaney and Peter Flynn were two big losses to the team all year and they both have big futures in the game. I'm not necessarily saying we'd have gone further with them available, but they certainly would have helped I hope a few of them make the U21s next year. They're all good lads." Johnny and his co-mentor Gerry Reynolds got to know the players very well coming through the various age groups (starting at U14, when Eamonn McEneaney was manager) and Leo McGuigan also put in great work after he joined the management team last year. Between them, the three selectors invested an immense amount of work. They started out on October 31 2007 with a provisional panel of 40 players, which had been trimmed to 28 by the first week in January. A number of challenge matches were organised and everybody got a fair crack of the whip. "A few will always be disappointed, but I stand over my decisions," says the manager. "Decisions have to be made. That's all part and parcel of football. We put a lot of time into this team from Halloween through to the championship in April/May. We were together two nights a week from January 15 and our football improved. It was a big commitment in terms of time but I enjoyed every minute of it." Did things conspire against Louth? Key players unavailable; constant away matches; a bad draw in the Ulster league; no Leinster league it wasn't exactly the luckiest campaign "Things caught up with us a bit. If we'd had a home match against Longford in the quarter-final, I suppose that would have given us more of a chance. We showed what we can do at home when we came back to beat Kildare having trailed by three points at half time. The injuries didn't help. At the end of the day, I was very disappointed because I genuinely felt we had another game in us." Would Johnny do it all again? "I thoroughly enjoyed it. We had that bad defeat against Tyrone, but that was only Ulster league stuff. The support we got from certain individuals was very poor. The sad thing is that these people will be involved again next year and clubs don't seem to know enough about who they are putting in power. Personally, I don't know where these people are coming from. Louth were beaten by Kilkenny only three years ago, so that's the context we are operating within. "Some people have suggested that the Development Squads aren't working, but we have to stick with it. People want change for the sake of change - I'd prefer to see Louth stick to the system. We won't win anything if we change it all now. I hope Mick Matthews is given his chance next year. "Meath were the better team when we played them in the first round but I wouldn't have been afraid of them if we'd got another crack at them in July. Just because we haven't won a major trophy, that's no reason to give up. Nobody can guarantee immediate success. We need to be patient and keep building. This year, we beat Laois so that has to be a source of confidence. "Gerry Reynolds and Leo McGuigan worked extremely hard all year under difficult circumstances and every one of the players supported me, so I'd like to pay tribute to them. They all gave it their best shot and nobody should fault them for that." Tweet

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