Louth has suffered many disappointing years at minor level in recent times. Despite an encouraging start, 2005 turned out to be another false dawn. Louth minor footballers retained the Leinster minor league title in 2005, but it was otherwise a bitterly disappointing year for the Wee County under 18s. They failed to record a solitary victory from five attempts in the Ulster minor league and, most tellingly of all, lost both outings in the preliminary group of the '05 Leinster MFC (including an embarrassing defeat to fourteen-man Kilkenny in Drogheda). Thus, though silverware was gleaned, it was largely another year to forget at this level. Leinster minor league When the Wee County started their year in ideal fashion by scooping the Leinster Shield for the second successive season, few would have predicted the collapse that was to follow. Of course, the Leinster minor league success was a worthwhile victory in its own right, but the triumph was rendered almost meaningless by subsequent failings. The Leinster league is, in essence, a warm-up competition. It was supposed to prepare Louth for the greater challenges that lay ahead. For some unknown reason, it failed to do so. Considering that the 2005 minor team was the first fruits of Louth's meticulous Development Squad programme, their complete failure to make an impression in the provincial championship was as mystifying as it was frustrating. Despite losing their 2005 Leinster minor league opener to Wicklow by 3-8 to 2-6 at the St Patrick's pitch in Wicklow town on Saturday January 29, Louth regrouped to retain the Shield with four successive victories. The Wicklow game was decidedly low-key and the sides only managed a point apiece in the first quarter. The Wee County fared reasonably well in the first half but were badly caught by two Wicklow raids which resulted in goals, giving the Garden County a 2-2 to 0-4 half-time cushion. Try as they may, Gerry Nixon's charges were unable to recover from the double blow of conceding those majors and the hosts added 1-2 to their tally upon the resumption. The holders came with a late surge, yielding goals from Aidan Kirk and Patrick Halligan (penalty), but it wasn't enough. Louth would continue their campaign away to Kilkenny the following weekend, with outings against Longford, Carlow and Wexford to follow. They would win all four. Louth recorded their first competitive win of the year with a 3-12 to 2-3 defeat of Kilkenny at Callan on Saturday February 5. Aidan McCabe (2) and substitute Dean Stanfield got the goals. There was little evidence in this game to suggest the humiliation that was to follow when the same two sides met in the championship at Drogheda just over two months later, on Saturday April 9. Louth went in search of their second win when they hosted Longford on Saturday February 19 - a dress rehearsal for the impending championship clash of the teams and an intriguing contest as there has been little between these sides at under 18 level in recent years (the midlanders won the provincial championship in 2002 and eliminated Louth in 2004). As it transpired, Louth, showing encouraging early-season form, remained on course for a successful defence of the Leinster minor league after a second successive victory in the competition. They beat Longford by 1-5 to 1-4 on a blustery day in Drogheda. The winners did the groundwork for this victory with a superb first-half showing: despite playing into the face of a stiff breeze, they managed to build a useful 0-4 to 0-2 interval advantage. The Wee County's third success was a 1-9 to 0-8 defeat of Carlow (away) on Saturday February 26. The win was hard-fought, but there were signs that Louth were improving with every outing. Considering that a worrying 28 minutes passed before Louth opened their account, this was a satisfactory win, easing the victors within touching distance of a successful retention of the provincial Shield with one outstanding fixture remaining, against Wexford at home on Saturday March 12. It was soon a case of mission completed when Louth minors claimed a second consecutive Leinster minor football league Shield by comfortably beating the Model County by (4-10 to 0-6) in their last outing to finish top of the table. It was an excellent performance from the county U18s - arguably their best of the year - and they fully deserved the comprehensive victory and the silverware it brought. Victory represented a definite confidence booster ahead of the 2005 Leinster minor football championship. However, the optimism had to be tempered with caution as the Wee County had failed to make any impression in the 2004 provincial MFC after capturing the corresponding Shield title. After the Wexford game, county minor board chairman Tomas O hEochaidh presented the Shield to winning captain Bevan Duffy on behalf of Leinster Council. Ulster minor league Having won the first of three competitions entered, the county minors continued to impress with an opening round draw with Meath in the Ulster minor league. The game took place at Castletown, Navan on Saturday March 19 and Dreadnots clubman Pat Lynch fired the Wee County's ninth point in injury time, to give them a 0-9 to 1-6 share of the spoils. The visitors came close to winning the match twice in the closing stages, only to be denied by heroic Royal County goalkeeper Jonathan Ginnity. The Meath custodian first saved from Jamie Faulkner and then from the best forward on view, Aidan McCabe, four minutes from time. The result offered evidence that Louth could rub shoulders with the big guns. Unfortunately, this was as good as it got for the Minor Class of 2005. They played six more competitive games in '05 and lost them all. In hindsight, perhaps entering the Ulster minor league isn't a great idea, as Gerry Nixon's charges found their northern opponents to be a whole different kettle of fish. They lost heavily to Armagh in the second round, 1-10 to 1-3 at Silverbridge over Easter weekend. While there were mitigating circumstances (management were forced to field without injured first-choice midfield pairing Bevan Duffy and Sean Brassil), a defeat is a defeat and undoubtedly affects morale. Patrick Halligan's goal gave the Wee County a 1-1 to 0-3 interval lead but Armagh got stronger as the game went on and ran out comfortable victors. Down provided the opposition at Newry on Thursday March 31. Fielding a number of U17s (as was their policy throughout the competition), Louth led comfortably at the break, 1-6 to 0-3, but were completely overwhelmed thereafter and slumped to a 1-11 to 1-8 defeat. The game against Antrim clashed with the Leinster championship opener against Kilkenny, so Louth fielded a team comprising solely of U17s. They were well beaten on the day. The under-strength Wee County closed their Ulster league campaign against mighty Tyrone in Dungannon on Saturday April 16. Stung by the criticism that followed their shock loss to Kilkenny, they put in a superb performance and were unfortunate to lose narrowly, 2-11 to 0-14. Leinster minor football championship Louth's insipid performance against Kilkenny in the provincial MFC came as a colossal disappointment. The Wee County lads completely misfired, sparking a wave of indignation throughout the county and placing serious question marks over the effectiveness of the previously much-vaunted Development Squads. Louth were (not unreasonably) expected to win with something to spare when they entertained Kilkenny for their opening assignment in the 2005 Leinster MFC on Saturday April 9. Kilkenny are the traditional whipping boys of Leinster football and anything other than a straightforward win for Louth would cause severe embarrassment. Victory, on the other hand, would set up a round-robin group decider against Longford two weeks later. Louth had won the league meeting between the teams by twelve points and another win should surely have been a formality. While they had lost their last two outings - against Armagh and Down in the Ulster minor league - the Cats were not in the same league as these two Ulster giants. Incredibly, what transpired was one of the shocks of the year. Despite playing much of the match with fourteen men, Kilkenny recorded a shock win to effectively put paid to Louth's championship aspirations for another year. While the Noresiders were by no means a poor side (they came within three points of Longford a week earlier), they are nonetheless the kind of team that should be put to the sword by any outfit with serious provincial claims. As it was, the reversal at Drogheda did untold damage and left the Wee County with a mountain to climb, which they failed to do. Louth's shock defeat in their first preliminary group game in the 2005 Leinster MFC caused consternation and woe. The Wee County were caught on the hop by the clearly hungrier Cats at the Gaelic Grounds, falling to a devastating 2-7 to 0-9 defeat. The result represented a massive bodyblow for Gerry Nixon's charges, who now had to beat Longford away on Saturday April 23 to force a three-way play-off in the preliminary section. The Wee County were not entirely without hope as they had, of course, already accounted for the midlanders during their successful defence of the Leinster minor league. But, as Louth found to their cost for the second year in a row, there exists a chasm between league and championship football, even at minor level. The much-needed 'saver' was not forthcoming and Louth crashed out of the 2005 Leinster minor football championship in Killoe on Saturday April 23. In the run-in to the do-or-die clash in the midlands, Louth came within three points of Tyrone in the Ulster league, a result that suggested they were capable of putting one over on Longford. They were therefore hopeful of gaining the victory required to force a three-way play-off. Captain Bevan Duffy (at centre forward) and Sean Brassil (at midfield) returned from injury but Clans clubman and key attacker Aidan McCabe missed out. Things went according to plan in the first half, as the visitors efficiently established a 0-6 to 0-3 interval advantage, but the midlanders came back into it thereafter to claim a 0-12 to 0-8 win - and a quarter-final clash with defending Leinster champions Laois. Louth were forced to put everything on the line. They had trained collectively 49 times since October 2004 and there was a tremendous spirit in the camp. They were determined to salvage their season and, playing with the breeze in the first half at Emmet Park, they looked capable of doing so. Longford put up a blanket defence in the opening 30 minutes in an attempt to limit the damage. This proved successful as the threat of the excellent Kevin McArdle was more or less kept in check. McArdle opened the scoring in the seventh minute but Longford got the next two scores to edge in front. But the visitors stormed ahead with further points from McArdle, Patrick Lynch, Patrick Halligan and Patrick Sheelan. Longford pointed from a '45' following an excellent Brendan Nash save and McArdle (free) closed the first-half action with his third point. The breeze picked up on the resumption and Longford quickly closed within a point. Five more unanswered points put them four to the good. Louth were hard done by when Sean Cumiskey was fouled with the goal at his mercy and Halligan popped over the resultant free. Sheelan got the Wee County's final score of the year and Louth were unfortunate when McArdle's late goalbound effort was cleared off the line by a corner back. This group of player certainly gave their all in their last game together and the manager Gerry Nixon - as well as his selectors Gerry Melia, Patsy Kirk, John Murphy and Dave Owens - couldn't have asked for much more. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. The Louth side that faced Longford in the preliminary group of the 2005 Leinster minor football championship at Killoe on April 23: Brendan Nash (Na Piarsaigh); Padraig Rath (Dreadnots), Peter Osborne (Sean McDermotts), Jason Delahan (Newtown Blues); Cian Matthews (Oliver Plunketts), Sean Cumiskey (St Patricks), Jamie Faulkner (Dundalk Gaels); Keith White (Cooley Kickhams), Sean Brassil (Oliver Plunketts); Patrick Sheelan (Cooley Kickhams, 0-2), Bevan Duffy (St Fechins), Patrick Lynch (Dreadnots, 0-1); Patrick Halligan (Naomh Mairtin, 0-2), Dean Stanfield (O'Connells), Kevin McArdle (Dundalk Gaels, 0-3). Subs: John Lynch (Geraldines), Alan Kirk (St Marys), Colm O'Neill (St Fechins) Tweet

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