Even though Louth have a terrible record at underage level going back some 30 years or more, the Wee County minors shipped some very harsh criticism before kicking a ball in the 2008 championship. They vindicated themselves with a decent showing in the Leinster MFC and were ultimately unlucky not to make the semi-finals. Having reached the provincial semi-finals in 2007, Louth's minor class of '08 had much to live up to. In many ways, they were on a hiding to nothing. There's no Leinster minor league anymore, so opportunities to get some meaningful preparations in for the premier competition are limited. Manager Johnny McDonnell once more availed of the Ulster minor league as pre-season fare, but incredibly the team's performances in this Mickey Mouse competition attracted a raft of over-the-top criticism. Let's be fair about this: the only reason Louth enter the northern competition is to get some meaningful match practice before the championship. They have no designs on trying to win the Ulster league. Basically, it's like challenge games, except with a more competitive edge. Good preparation, in other words. As a non-Ulster county, the Reds have to play all their matches away from home and the draw was unkind to them. They lost three successive matches - a pasting at Tyrone's hands sandwiched between losses to Fermanagh and Antrim - and the knives were out before the championship commenced. This was patently unfair on the players, the team management of Johnny McDonnell, Gerry Reynolds and Leo McGuigan, and everybody who is working so hard to promote gaelic games in Louth. If the players decided to clear off and play soccer instead, who would blame them? It's time the people of the county started to be less critical and more supportive of their own. Bitching, back-stabbing, in-fighting - it's a recipe for stagnation and mediocrity. Okay, the Development Squads project doesn't appear to be working but in future can we PLEASE wait until the team has finished (or even started) playing before penning the post-mortems? As it was, the players - clearly hurt by the abuse they received - soldiered on and gave a creditable account of themselves in the competition that really counts. After an opening-round defeat to Meath, they bounced back with wonderful back-door wins over defending provincial champions Laois and Kildare before losing their quarter-final narrowly to Longford in Pearse Park on the second Saturday of May. Fate wasn't kind to this team. They had to play three of their four games away from home - travelling to Navan, Portlaoise and Longford - and they had to make do all year without the services of injured Jim McEneaney. The Geraldines clubman was by far and away the best minor footballer in the Wee County in 2007 as he inspired his club to the Louth MFC and was a massive loss. Save a substitute appearance in the last game against Longford, Dundalk Young Irelands clubman Peter Flynn also missed the entire campaign due to his army commitments. Inspirational midfielder James Califf was also ruled out of the vital Pearse Park clash with an ankle injury picked up during the Kildare win. Padraic Gill's goal midway through the first half was enough to give Longford a 1-13 to 0-12 quarter-final win at their county grounds on Saturday May 10. It was an even contest from start to finish and Louth matched the hosts all the way, with Kevin Rogers chipping in with 0-6 from the centre of the park. Unfortunately, he was less effective when switched into the edge of the square. This wasn't a vintage Longford performance by any means and Louth could easily have edged the verdict. Barry Hamilton, who was excellent, and his colleagues in the full forward line - Dean Matthews and Barry O'Hare - were operating a little deep and the visitors never really looked like penetrating the midlanders' defence for the goal that would have transformed the match. Longford scored first before Louth hit three consecutive points through James Craven and Rogers (2), to lead by 0-3 to 0-1 after 13 minutes. The concession of the game's only goal on 16 minutes was an obvious blow but Louth responded manfully to go back in front with three points inside four minutes - Rogers (2) and Andy McDonnell on target. 0-6 to 1-2. The winners landed four points in a row and Louth had the last say of the first half with a Matthews free. Half time: Longford 1-6, Louth 0-7. Matthews closed the gap to the minimum within 40 seconds of the restart but this was as good as it got for the Wee County as Longford kept their noses in front pretty well from there on and showed more cuteness in possession. Exchanges of points were no good to the Reds and even during seven additional minutes they failed to create a good goal-scoring chance. Louth opened their Leinster MFC programme against Meath at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday April 5. They had shown much-improved form in their most-recent Ulster league outing against Fermanagh and went into the Meath game quietly confident. Before the match, the manager summed up the mood when he said: "We'd be confident of winning, while Meath will be very confident of winning." The Royals coasted to a 1-14 to 1-9 victory. The scoreboard probably flattered Louth a little as they did most of their scoring in the final 20 minutes, with the game already lost. Meath led by 1-12 to 0-4 after 39 minutes and Kevin Rogers' expertly-dispatched 48th-minute penalty was of little consequence. Eamon O'Neill was the only Louth forward to score. That defeat consigned the Wee County to the scenic route and it was win or bust for Louth's minor footballers as they squared up to Laois at Portlaoise on Saturday April 19. This back-door clash was a tougher one than the Reds would have expected as the O'Moore County were reigning provincial champions at U18 level, but surprisingly lost to Longford in the first round. Louth needed an unlikely away win to keep their season alive and the players duly delivered with a magnificent 1-13 to 0-9 success. Louth bossed the game, with a slick half-back line bringing the fight to the O'Moore boys from start to finish. Kevin Rogers sealed the win with an emphatic late penalty. Next up was Louth's only home game of the entire year. They hosted Kildare at Drogheda on Saturday April 26 and romped to a memorable 1-14 to 0-13 victory, having trailed by four points at the turnaround. Dean Matthews bagged the decisive goal on 42 minutes as Louth got the win that would ensure them a 100% home record in the 2008 Leinster minor football championship. After that win, Johnny McDonnell had some kind words for his players: "We've done well. There was a little bit of bad press in general. All I was concerned about was the players, that they wouldn't take it in, and thank God that didn't happen. We're not a bad side." They weren't. Louth, 2008 Leinster MFC V Longford: Kevin Keelan; Harry O'Connell, Darren O'Hanlon Philip Englishby; Pauric Bannon, David Moloney (0-1) James Craven (0-1); Michael Rogers, Kevin Rogers (0-6); Kevin McMahon, Andy McDonnell (0-1), Eamon O'Neill; Dean Matthews (0-2), Barry O'Hare (0-1), Barry Hamilton. Subs: Peter Flynn for O'Neill, Patrick Hoey for Craven, Peter Brennan for McMahon Tweet

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