For the third successive year, Louth's involvement in the Leinster U21 football championship was terminated by Laois. This time around, the O'Moore County proved far too strong for the Wee County as they cruised to a 2-13 to 0-7 victory at Portlaoise. It was a disappointing result. Not that every defeat isn't a source of obvious disappointment but it's even more pronounced when you go into a game feeling that victory is possible only to fall flat on your face. In the run-up to the clash with reigning champions Laois (who subsequently surrendered their provincial crown to Kildare), Reds boss Eamonn McEneaney was in a quietly confident, if somewhat realistic mood: "We feel we've worked very well to prepare for it but we have to remind ourselves too that 18 or 19 of the panel will still be underage for next year and, as such, it's a tall order. What's important is that the lads go out and go right at them from the word go and I know they have the ability to do that. I'm hopeful we can get a result but to do that they'll have to perform as well as they did in some of the challenge games." As it transpired, the manager's inherent fears were realised as his relatively-young side were comprehensively beaten by a pretty average Laois outfit. The O'Moore men weren't nearly as strong as they had been in either of the two previous years, yet they beat Louth more easily than they had in '06 or '07. The beaten 2007 All-Ireland finalists made a dream start, adding two early points to a first-minute Stephen O'Leary goal. The three-pointer represented a terrible blow to Louth's hopes and when the umpires had a disagreement over the second Laois point but decided to award it anyway, one could sense that this would not be the visitors' day. Louth replied with two points from Brian Donnelly and Conor Rafferty but were dealt another blow when Kevin Smith rifled home a second Laois goal to give them a massive 2-4 to 0-2 lead midway through the first half. Shortly before that second Laois major, Paraic Smith was unlucky when he beat the O'Moore netsman to the ball only to see his flick find the side-netting. But Louth refused to buckle and enjoyed their best spell of the match in the run-up to the short whistle, hitting four successive points from raiding half back Ger Hoey (two), Derek Maguire and Rafferty to trail by 0-6 to 2-4 at the break. It could have been even closer but Maguire and Smith both missed good opportunities with the Reds well on top approaching half time. Laois looked to have a real fight on their hands when Louth reduced the deficit to three points with a great solo score from Donnelly (the Wee County's fifth successive score) three minutes after the restart but, remarkably, the visitors were not to score again as Laois assumed complete control. Donie Kingston, Scott Conroy, Zach Tuohy and Stephen O'Leary were all on the mark as the O'Moore County set up a quarter-final meeting with Wicklow at the same venue in a fortnight's time. On the rare occasions that Louth did break forward in the closing quarter, their accuracy left a lot to be desired. Three years on from the humiliating minor defeat to Kilkenny, Louth went into the U21 championship with a point to prove. Survivors from the Cats hiccup were few and far between as the management team drafted in a number of players from the 2007 minor team. In challenge games, the group bonded fairly well and it looked as though the Wee County had a strong crop of 25-30 players who could perform at this level. Peter Osborne provided plenty of senior experience in the full back line, where Cooley's Richard Brennan was another major asset. Cooley's representation was increased by senior panellists Brian Donnelly and Keith White at midfield, while full forward Conor Rafferty was a welcome addition to the team after taking a break from soccer. In Declan Byrne, Dreadnots' Padraig Rath and Geraldines' Gerard Hoey, the Reds had a brilliant half-back line and attacking options like Derek Maguire, Derek Mulligan, Barry Flanagan and Shane Brennan left the manager with plenty of cards up his sleeve. But Laois themselves had other ideas as they had designs on becoming only the second county to win three successive Leinster U21 titles. They were also aiming to become the first county to win nine Leinster titles at this level. How ironic that Kildare - the sole county with three-in-a-row - should stop them and should also move to the top of the Roll of Honour with nine successes. But none of that directly concerned Louth, who were long gone by the time the competition started to unravel in earnest. Sean Dempsey (the Laois manager) had a number of players left over from his 2007 side and also called up a few from the '07 Leinster MFC-winning team, included highly-rated pair Zach Tuohy and Donie Kingston, both of whom are earmarked for senior intercounty brilliance. John O'Loughlin, Cathal Og Greene and Scott Conroy were among the Laois players already with senior experience. In preparation, Laois enjoyed challenge match victories over Cork, Clare and Roscommon but lost to Kerry. Louth, meanwhile, played three challenge matches to get themselves ready for the championship - beating Armagh but losing to both Down and Antrim. And they were without injured trio Brian Devlin, Brian Duffy and Sean Brassil for the Laois tie This defeat leaves the omnipresent question marks hanging over underage football in Louth. With just two championship victories to their credit in twelve years (since reaching the 1996 Leinster final), a twelve-point reversal was a definite step in the wrong direction. On the upside, many of this team will be eligible again next year and things can surely only get better. Louth - 2008 Leinster U21 FC V Laois: Brendan Nash; Aidan O'Brien, Peter Osborne, Richard Brennan; Declan Byrne, Padraig Rath, Gerard Hoey (0-2); Keith White, Brian Donnelly (0-2); Alan Kirk, Paraic Smith, Shane Brennan; Derek Maguire (0-1), Conor Rafferty (0-2), Derek Mulligan. Subs: Craig Owen, Cian Matthews, Dean Stanfield, Barry Flanagan, Paddy Halligan. Tweet

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