When it comes to championship football, Louth certainly couldn't be tagged the jammiest team in the country. Recent years have been tattooed with a litany of unfortunate and oftentimes controversial championship exits for the Wee County and - surprise, surprise - it happened again in 2005. Val Andrews' rejuvenated charges progressed to Round Three of the Qualifiers and, after being reduced to 14-men, produced a whirlwind final-quarter performance against neighbours Monaghan in Cavan in mid-July. Having built up a head of steam, they cruelly ran out of time… By Gerry Robinson When Louth were torn apart by Offaly in the first round of the 2005 Leinster senior football championship, things looked bleaker for Val Andrews and his team than they had ever done. That match took place in Navan on May 7 and was the very first of the new senior championship season. The Reds lost by nine points, producing one of the most insipid Wee County displays in living memory. The result apparently confirmed that Louth had slipped not just to the bottom rung of the intercounty ladder but had actually fallen off it altogether. Louth football was going nowhere fast and the knives were out. Sharp knives they were, too. Incredibly, against all odds, Louth turned their year around, piecing together their best even run in the qualifiers. Gradually, things took shape, and after thrilling victories over Waterford and then Roscommon in Drogheda, we were within 140 minutes of an All-Ireland quarter-final place. This was a team that had been completely written off as no-hopers a couple of months earlier. Crucially, the players never lost their belief. They ignored the cutting criticism, the mindless slatings and the generally insensitive drivel that intercounty players are subjected to at an alarming rate these days, choosing to channel their focus to on-the-field matters. Louth senior footballers did their talking on the pitch and the critics were silenced. Despite going into the third-round qualifier against Monaghan as rank outsiders (the Oriel County had taken none other than Wexford in the previous round), Louth knew they could do a job on their neighbours. An even enough contest (both sides enjoyed periods of total dominance) ensued at Breffni Park on Saturday July 16 and the Reds were extremely unfortunate to lose by the odd point, 1-12 to 0-14. With their backs to the wall, the Leinster county refused to go down without a fight. They started and finished strongly but lost their way somewhere in between and Seamus McEneaney's men took full advantage, doing just about enough to advance to the final qualifying round. Of course, there was controversy too: top scorer Darren Clarke - a man who served the team brilliantly all year - tapped over an injury-time free to bring his match tally to ten and close a gap that had once been seven points to just one. Clarke opted not to go for goal as the referee had evidently suggested that there was time for an equaliser which would have forced extra time, the cancellation of Monaghan's numerical superiority and an almost certain Louth win (as Val Andrews' men had all the momentum at that stage). Breffni Park was stunned when the final whistle sounded before Louth had a chance to re-gain possession. It was a surreal end to the year for a team that had given everything and probably deserved better. Should Louth have gone for a goal right at the death? Their opponents had famously done precisely that against Meath in the Division Two national league final a few months earlier and, in the form of a freak goal, had reaped the rewards that such optimistic speculation sometimes yields. After fighting back from a seemingly impossible position to within touching distance of an extraordinary victory, maybe the Wee County should have sensed that it was going to be their day. So deep into added time, with no guarantee of another chance, they could have been bolder. It might have worked, but knowing Louth's luck, it wouldn't have made any difference anyway! Regardless, the bizarre end to the game - a match which Louth did NOT deserve to lose - shouldn't mask the fact that, for the first time, the Wee County had played three matches in the qualifiers. They outlasted the likes of their own Leinster conquerors Offaly, Kildare, Westmeath, Wexford, Down, Donegal and 2004 heroes Fermanagh in the championship and lasted as long as Meath, which is surely enough to restore at least of vestige of pride in Louth football. A significant corner may have been turned. Louth started their season with a reasonable run in the O'Byrne Cup, reaching the semi-final stage with performances that suggested an interesting year was in prospect. The competitive year started as early as the calendar one: Louth faced DIT in the first round of the new-look O'Byrne Cup at the Gaelic Grounds on the first Sunday in January and only the second day of the New Year! On a sunny but freezing cold afternoon, the Reds blazed to a 4-11 to 2-9 success thanks largely to a return of 2-4 from Ardee clubman Darren Clarke, who started his season as he would finish it - in terrific scoring form. Ronan Valentine and Cormac Malone got the other goals. In keeping with the time of year, Louth fielded an experimental side - only five of whom (Jamie Carr, Simon Gerrard, Aaron Hoey, Darren Clarke and Paddy Matthews) would start against Monaghan in the third round of the qualifiers, by which time Andrews had a clearer picture of his best XV. But they won easily, despite the fact that the unsuccessful sin-bin experiment had them down to twelve men at one stage and even though Wee County panellists Owen Zamboglou and Johnny Kermath both featured on the Students' team. Dublin fielded their county U21 team for the quarter-final clash in Drogheda on January 9. Louth made three enforced changes and finally got into their stride, after a poor start (they trailed by six points to no score after 19 minutes), to salvage a pleasing 2-7 to 0-9 win. Cormac Malone and captain Mark Stanfield fired the crucial goals, as Louth stole the decision with four points in the closing five minutes. Back-to-back wins at the outset of Val Andrews's sophomore season came as a welcome tonic, and the raising of 4,000 euro through gate receipts for GOAL's tsunami relief fund was a nice touch. Reigning Leinster champions Westmeath, who had beaten Louth after extra time in the first round of the previous year's competition, provided semi-final opposition. Again the Wee County had home advantage on Sunday January 16th. There was a noticeable step-up in the class of opposition at Drogheda this time around, however, and Alan Mangan and Dessie Dolan did most of the damage as the midlanders plundered a 0-12 to 1-6 victory and an O'Byrne Cup final place. David Devanney's 67th-minute major sparked a late Louth revival that was ultimately all in vein. When he took over the county team in late 2003, Val Andrews immediately cited promotion to Division One as an urgent priority. The league campaign in 2004, was a major disappointment, producing one a single victory. The '05 effort was a slightly improved one but Louth still never came close to their objective of securing a top-flight place. Only two victories were secured - at the expense of Munster minnows Tipperary and Waterford - and there was a gutsy draw with Wicklow in Aughrim in early March - but four defeats suggested a lack of killer instinct as well as a paucity of self-belief. Meath and Derry emerged from Division 2B to book their places at the top table, and both recorded resounding victories over a Louth side that looked out of its depth in those matches. The one-point reversals at the hands of Antrim and Cavan could be attributed to inexperience as much as anything else. When the group stage of the competition was complete, Derry and Meath topped the table unbeaten, with 13 points apiece from seven outings. Cavan had ten points, Antrim eight, and Louth shared fifth place with Wicklow, five points each. They were eight points off the pace, ahead of only Tipp and Waterford and, frankly, at that stage, Louth's return for the year made for pretty miserable reading. The 1-15 to 1-6 Leinster pummelling from Offaly didn't help but back-to-back qualifier victories over Waterford (1-12 to 1-8 on June 18) and Roscommon (0-11 to 0-10 on July 2) in Drogheda transformed Louth's year and left them very much in contention for a surprise place in the All-Ireland series. In an accurate analysis of Louth's year, it must be pointed out that things seemed to conspire against the team from the off. In the run-up to the national league opener against Antrim, the squad was already reeling from a number of defections and injuries. Key personnel were provisionally ruled unavailable for the year (though Peter McGinnity and Paddy Keenan would return to help the cause) and injuries to many others left the manager juggling his resources. The match was played in Casement Park on Sunday February 6 and Louth were pipped by an injury-time point, 0-16 to 1-12. The visitors had been completely outplayed in the first half but Shane Lennon's goal put them in front with time almost up. However, the Saffrons finished stronger to claim the brace of points on offer. In the second round, Louth entertained Derry in atrocious, gale-force conditions at the Gaelic Grounds. They scored only four times, just once in the second half, falling to an embarrassing 1-7 to 0-4 defeat in one of the poorest matches witnessed at the Drogheda venue in a long time. There was a three-week break before Louth travelled to Aughrim on Sunday March 6 to face Wicklow in the third round of the league, still in search of their first win of the campaign. The Wee County landed an impressive return of 14 points in the Garden County fortress and Cormac Malone's late point on the stroke of full time seemed to have provided a morale-boosting victory. However, Wicklow struck in injury time to earn a 1-11 to 0-14 draw. Louth were on the board at last, but with just one point rather than two. Pointless Tipperary's visit to Drogheda could not have come at a better time. The Reds didn't look the March 13 gift horse in the mouth, seeing off the Premier County men on a scoreline of 1-15 to 1-9. Ardee duo Niall Sharkey and Darren Clarke struck 0-10 between them and Louth were now in mid-table with a point more than they had earned in their entire ill-fated '04 NFL programme and still three games remaining. Wins against Meath, Cavan and Waterford could still force a semi-final place… It wasn't to be, though, as neighbours Meath brought Louth back to earth with a resounding thud at Drogheda on Sunday March 20, 1-18 to 0-10. The Wee County held their own in the opening period but withered badly thereafter and only some heroics from goalkeeper Shane McCoy saved them a right humiliation. It was clear now that Louth would be in Division Two again in 2006. A fourth game in as many weekends took place against Val Andrews' former team Cavan in Breffni Park on Sunday March 27. Louth got the second-half collapse of the previous weekend out of their system with a much-improved performance and could consider themselves a little unfortunate to leave the Cavan town venue empty-handed after a slender 0-12 to 1-8 defeat. Niall Sharkey was top scorer with 1-4 but, worryingly, was forced out of the action with a knee injury. In keeping with their topsy-turvy campaign, Louth closed their unconvincing 2005 national football league account with a stuttering 1-11 to 1-9 win at the expense of Munster whipping boys Waterford in Fraher Field, Dungarvan in early April. The Wee County had an injury-ravaged side on duty. Brian White made his debut and JP Rooney togged out. But, with only a month to go before the 2005 Leinster SFC was due to commence with the meeting of Offaly and Louth, it was difficult to find any cause for optimism in the prospects of the latter. Nothing was going right and the downward spiral would continue against the Faithfuls in Navan - certainly no happy haunt for Louth in recent times. As the countdown to the championship opener gathered pace, so too did the rumble over the Mattock Rangers club versus county dispute. Both parties were adamant that there actually was no quarrel, but Collon men remained conspicuous in their absence from the county senior football panel, which looked all the weaker without names like Grimes, Brennan and Reid. These players were tearing other club sides apart in the Wee County as Paddy Clarke's Mattock side emerged as a real force, but Louth were making do without them. Anyway, the official line is that there was no fall-out and Val Andrews' men went into the Offaly game intent on ripping up the formbook. But a heavy defeat to Wicklow in a SF challenge in the build up to the biggest game of the year didn't augur well for their prospects. And so it came to pass that at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday May 8, Louth flopped to a 1-15 to 1-6 hammering. The result didn't flatter the Faithful County in the slightest and the Reds could consider themselves lucky just to lose by nine. Offaly had 18 wides to Louth's nine (an affliction that would stay with them all year as they subsequently lost to Laois and then Carlow). Offaly registered an amazing 23 attempts on goal in the first half and how they only led by 1-6 to 0-3 at the interval in anybody's guess. Paddy Keenan had shook off the back injury that threatened to sideline him for the entire year and the Pats man was one of Louth's best players (alongside full back Simon Gerrard and centre back Aaron Hoey), capping his performance with a great goal after Darren Clarke had rattled the crossbar. In general, though, the less said about this particular match the better! The six-week lay-off was surely the longest any senior intercounty team faced in the 2005 championship, but it seemed to do Louth the world of good as they burst through the back door firing on all cylinders with three excellent displays against Waterford, Roscommon and Monaghan. There was dismay throughout the county after the Offaly game but the first sign of a revival was posted when Cormac Malone's goal helped the Wee County to a 1-10 to 0-11 victory over Monaghan in a SF challenge in Louth village to mark the official opening of the new St Mochtas clubhouse. But the Louth SF camp was riddled with injury ahead of the crucial qualifier against Waterford in Drogheda on Saturday June 18. The Wee County were forced to make do without injured contingent Paddy Keenan, Mark Stanfield, Nicky McDonnell, Colin Goss, Niall Sharkey and Ronan Valentine, with Ollie McDonnell and Peter McGinnity also unavailable, while Cooley Kickhams trio Brian White, Sean O'Neill and Gavin Long hadn't featured on the panel since the defeat to Offaly. Staring an embarrassing exit square in the face, Louth's makeshift team delivered the goods, overcoming a shaky start to stun the Large Bottle County with a decisive third-quarter surge that yielded an unspectacular but vital four-point victory, 1-12 to 1-8. The players called into action for the Waterford game did themselves proud, sneaking a win that kick-started Louth's year and provided some renewed grounds for optimism in the future of Wee County football. For most of the match, there was little or nothing between the teams, but Waterford seemed to lose their composure towards the end and grateful Louth took full advantage, claiming a second-round place in the qualifying series with a succession of late points. The first half was fairly even, and Val Andrews breathed a sigh of relief as the short whistle sounded with his team a point to the good, 1-6 to 1-5. The score that separated the sides at the interval arrived from the boot of prodigious Kilkerley Emmets clubman Shane Lennon, who lined out on the edge of the square. The Decies had twice led by three points in the opening stages and also missed a glorious opportunity of taking the game by the scruff of its neck when dependable Wee County 'keeper Shane McCoy brilliantly saved Gary Hurney's first-half penalty. Two points from Niall Curran helped Waterford to a 0-5 to 0-2 advantage by the end of the first quarter, but JP Rooney's trademark 18th-minute goal drew Louth level, 1-2 to 0-5. When Liam Ó Lionáin hit the crossbar at the other end, the Waterford wing forward reacted quickest to fist the rebounder to the net. On the half-hour, McCoy turned from villain to hero when he excellently saved Hurney's spotkick - the Louth goalie had committed the foul that conceded the penalty in the first place. Two points from Darren Clarke and one from Ronan Clarke got the hosts back into it and Lennon made it four in a row for Louth who led by one at the break. When Lennon pointed again on the restart, the lead was two. Louth never again trailed and Waterford managed just one score from play in the second half. When the Suirsiders levelled at 1-7 apiece, Paddy Matthews struck with two Louth points and the winners never looked back. Substitute Nicky McDonnell and Alan Page completed the scoring. As Louth closed in on victory, Waterford had three men dismissed for separate incidents, a fact which points to the highly competitive nature of this encounter. Roscommon were next for the drop at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday July 2. The Primrose & Blue were enduring a torrid summer, but Louth still had to finish them off and deserve great credit for the manner in which they achieved their nail-biting 0-11 to 0-10 victory with the last three points of a high-octane affair. This was a magnificent victory for the home side, who had now negotiated two rounds of qualifiers and were gathering momentum. Roscommon refused to go down without a fight and almost pulled in out of the fire right at the death. Four minutes into injury time, colourful goalie Shane Curran surged upfield through the middle of the pitch but his progress was halted illegally by JP Rooney. Curran then dramatically pulled off his jersey and took the free himself, from 50 yards. Much to the despair of the travelling support and equally to the delight of all Louth folk, the kick tailed to the left and wide and the Wee County were into the third-round draw. On the evidence of this performance, confident Louth - with substitute Christy Grimes very much back in the team - could fancy their chances against anybody. JP Rooney was the Louth hero: the St Mairtins clubman calmly fisted over the injury-time score that booked his county's unlikely passage to the next phase. Louth led by three points a minute into the second half but found themselves two adrift with only the same number of minutes on the clock. But points from Hunterstown's Paddy Matthews and prodigal son Grimes - playing his first intercounty game in over a year after a dramatic return to the panel earlier that very week - drew the home side level and set the stage for Rooney's late winner. Louth were also boosted by the return to fitness of captain Mark Stanfield and the O'Connells clubman wreaked havoc in the Roscommon defence. Paddy Keenan got a first-minute point for Louth but the scores were tied at 0-4 apiece after 15 absorbing back-door minutes. Points from the brilliant Shane Lennon and Darren Clarke gave the 'Wee' men a nice 0-6 to 0-4 interval cushion. When St Marys clubman Clarke kicked his fourth point on the resumption, Louth looked to be coasting but they gave their supporters plenty to worry about by then going a quarter of an hour without a score. During this time, Roscommon got right back into it and Karl Mannion's 67th-minute point made it 0-10 to 0-8 in favour of the Connacht men. But Louth took the laurels with a grandstand denouement courtesy of Matthews, Grimes and Rooney, who was teed up by the impressive Lennon. Two weeks later, on Saturday July 16, Louth's brave run was halted in a dramatic tussle with neighbours Monaghan at Breffni Park. Despite having been given little chance of success, 14-man Louth pushed Monaghan all the way but fell to an agonizing 1-12 to 0-14 defeat. Louth started best with points from Darren Clarke and Shane Lennon but then relinquished their grip on the game completely, gifted a 12th-minute goal to Monaghan full forward Hugh McElroy, and trailed by six points at the end of the first quarter. Clarke's frees kept Louth in touch but they trailed at the interval by 1-8 to 0-5. Nicky McDonnell was lined for a robust challenge eleven minutes after the restart and Louth trailed by seven, 1-11 to 0-7. But the Reds had eclipsed Roscommon with a brilliant fightback a fortnight earlier and they almost caught Monaghan cold the recovery of the year. During the 24 minutes of normal time and five of injury time that remained when McDonnell saw red, Monaghan managed to add just a solitary point to their tally and were left clinging on for dear life. Louth picked off seven points in that time but the goal they needed just wouldn't materialise, despite JP Rooney twice finding himself in good positions. Clarke notched ten points over the match, including the final one, before the clock ran out on Louth's briefly-resurrected 2005 season. Tweet

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