Louth midfielder Paddy Keenan is determined not to dwell on the Wee County's traumatic Leinster final loss to Meath.

Louth had a chance to regroup yesterday against Dublin, but two Eoghan O'Gara goals meant that the game was effectively over at half-time.

"It's very tough to take," the St. Patrick's clubman said.

"We are very wary of looking back on the year and seeing the same old sob stories for Louth football. We don't need that. It's a very young team; I think only four of the lads are over 26 and we're in the All-Ireland junior semi-final. We have to build on this.

"I don't think there was a hangover from the Leinster final - we just never turned up. We didn't front up and we were well beaten in the first half. Lads had regrets over our first half display in the Leinster final and we had them again yesterday. At least we came out in the second half and fought, played a bit better."

Manager Peter Fitzpatrick was also eager to move on, insisting that he was already looking forward to next year.

"We didn't show in the first half. Dublin showed for every ball and we were second," he said.

"In the second half, we played a lot better, scored 10 points. Had we done that in the first half, it would have been a different game. But we hope to learn from this experience. It's our fifth game of the championship and we're looking forward to next year."

And he refused to use the Meath saga as an excuse for Louth's below-par display.

"We had two weeks to get ourselves prepared. Whether the occasion got to us or not, I'm not too sure. We regrouped at half-time. I'm sure the Leinster final had some bearing on the game but no excuses - we were beaten by the better team," Fitzer added. Tweet

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