Louth's senior football team was almost unrecognisable in 2004. But Val Andrews' new-look combination made steady progress over the course of the season, culminating in a thoroughly creditable performance against Galway in Round Two of the SFC Qualifiers in early July. All in all, considering the sheer enormity of the challenge that faced the Wee County in '04, it was a satisfactory year. Two-thousand-and-four was a year of change for the Louth senior footballers. New manager Val Andrews was forced to go all the way back to the drawing board. The Dubliner had to begin the arduous process of building a team virtually from scratch and, in fairness, he did a decent job. Taking on the Louth job was a brave move from the former Cavan boss. It became immediately apparent that there would be no quick fix. The bulk of the players who had worn the red jersey under Andrews' predecessors Paddy Clarke and Paddy Carr had either retired or were unavailable. Thus began the chore of building a new team, one without many of the more established names in the Wee County. Andrews unearthed not just some intercounty newcomers but also a new breed of player. Men who wanted to wear the Louth jersey. Men with determination and courage. And spirit. Of course, Louth football had to start again - at the very bottom - and, in hindsight, it was unrealistic to expect a return in the currency of trophies or spectacular results. Essentially, '04 represented the first stage of a long-term rebuilding programme - and it went well. Considering that the Wee County named eight debutants for the Leinster SFC clash with Wexford, the subsequent extra-time defeat of Antrim and brave effort against glamorous Galway in the Qualifiers demonstrated that Louth are learning fast. Granted, the league was a massive disappointment, but blooding intercounty footballers is an exercise that demands time and patience. There is every chance that, with an extra year's experience gained, Louth might push for promotion to the top flight in the spring of 2005. A late Noel Meehan goal two minutes into added time ended Louth's participation in the 2004 All-Ireland SFC at Parnell Park on Saturday July 3. Louth were unfancied underdogs for the clash with John O'Mahony's highly-regarded team and few - even within the county - rated their chances against the All-Ireland champions of 1998 and 2001. However, those in the Wee County camp decided to give it a crack and, in the end, they could well have beaten the westerners on the day. However, in the first-ever championship meeting of these two counties, Louth's inexperience showed as the Wee County let Galway off the hook in an enjoyable tussle that went all the way to the final whistle. Galway took the lead courtesy of Matthew Clancy after only 30 seconds but Louth levelled through JP Rooney, who fired over after Val Andrews' men had been guilty of three wides. Mark Stanfield then curled over a beautiful point to give the Leinster county a seventh-minute lead but the Tribesmen had surged three points clear by the 14th minute. Two minutes later, disaster struck for the Wee County when Galway got their first goal. The ball ricocheted to Padraic Joyce and the All Star attacker blasted clinically to the back of the net from 30 metres to leave the maroon and whites 1-5 to 0-2 ahead. Staring defeat in the face, Louth demonstrated tremendous resolve and a brace of frees supplemented by a classic point from St Patricks clubman Paddy Keenan kept them in the hunt. At the interval, Louth trailed by a goal, 1-5 to 0-5. There was still everything to play for. After Galway opened the second half scoring, Louth were unfortunate not to close within a point when Rooney's goal effort flew inches over the bar. Try as they may, Louth were unable to force the telling goal that would swing the tie in their favour and, cruelly, it was the westerners who also registered the game's second major when Meehan popped up with the injury-time score that ultimately sent Louth packing. Thus, while they gave as good as they got against one of the best teams in the country, Louth were unable to match Galway where it mattered most - on the scoreboard. It was a mini miracle that JP Rooney had been able to start a championship game in 2004. It looked as though the year might pass the Supporters Club's 2003 Footballer of the Year by after he was sidelined for months by a pelvis problem, but the Naomh Mairtin player recovered in time to take his place on the starting XV against Galway. The pelvic injury, diagnosed in December, cleared up earlier than expected due to a lot of hard work on the player's behalf and he made the cut for the Round Two Qualifier, having resurfaced to telling effect as a substitute against Antrim three weeks earlier. Louth's hopes of upsetting Galway had been boosted by Rooney's return. He was named at left corner forward in place of David Reid, while Ray Finnegan replaced Ray Kelly in the half forward line. Corner back Alan Page returned from suspension, which meant that his Cooley colleague Jonathan Clerkin was relegated to the subs bench. Louth were furious that the game was staged at Parnell Park, as they were a designated team and were therefore entitled to home advantage. However, in its undoubted wisdom, the GAC opted to fix the game for Parnell Park because of fears that Drogheda's capacity was inadequate. This represented a massive blow to Val Andrews' team as home advantage could have been worth four or five points. Louth were also understandably unhappy that the Saturday throw-in was fixed for 3.30 rather than 7.00 and county secretary Pat Toner publicly expressed his dismay. Louth certainly took the Qualifiers seriously. In the run-up to the Galway game, the Wee County enjoyed a superb 1-16 to 1-13 victory over fellow qualifiers Fermanagh at a neutral venue in Monaghan. (The magnitude of this win subsequently became apparent when the Erne County dumped Meath out of the championship on the same day as the Louth/Galway meeting and went on to beat Cork, Donegal and Armagh.) Club games in the county were brought forward a week to guarantee the county panel 14 days to prepare for their second-round qualifier. In the first round of the 2004 Qualifier series, Louth disposed of Antrim after extra time on a scoreline of 2-13 to 0-14 at Drogheda on Saturday June 12. The winners had three early points on the board through Mark Stanfield, Ollie McDonnell and Aaron Hoey and led by 0-5 to 0-2 after 19 minutes but Antrim hit the next four scores of the game to level the match after 35 minutes of play, 0-5 apiece. Just when it looked like the teams would be all-square at the break, up stepped Mark Stanfield: a minute into added time, Louth were awarded a spot kick and the O'Connells player buried his kick to the Antrim net to leave his side 1-5 to 0-5 clear at the short whistle. The third quarter did not go according to script for the home side - Antrim registered six unanswered points and Alan Page saw red for his second bookable offence. However, three scores from Darren Clarke, Hoey and JP Rooney levelled the game with time almost up and, even though Antrim went back in front, Derek Shevlin sent the game to extra time with a point in the fourth minute of injury time, 1-9 to 0-12. Louth regained their full complement for the extra 20 minutes and went on to win comfortably. JP Rooney's goal four minutes into the first period of extra time helped Louth to a 2-10 to 0-14 lead at the end of that period. Antrim failed to raise a flag in the second ten minutes while Louth added scores through Nicky McDonnell, David Devaney and Paddy Keenan for a wonderful win. The Antrim victory required remarkable character from Louth, who had already lost twice to the Saffrons in two previous meetings in 2004. Antrim came out on top in the first round of the national league (1-9 to 1-7) and the Glensmen also won a challenge in between the two competitive games. In Division 2B of the league, Antrim finished mid-table, with three wins and a draw from their seven outings. This was considerably better than Louth fared - the Wee County picked up a mere two points from their last-round clash with lowly Waterford. In the 2004 Leinster senior football championship, Wexford were deserved 2-10 to 0-8 winners at Parnell Park on Sunday May 16. The post-match comments of Val Andrews said it all: "There are no hard luck stories. We made chances but didn't take them and we needed everything for us to go well and things for them to go wrong. I am extremely disappointed for the lads. It is an amateur game and they tried hard. We have a lot to do. "There is no excuse from the management. The buck stops with us. My record as manager is abysmal, one win in the league and going out of the championship where it really wasn't a contest for the last 15 to 20 minutes. "You can see the deficiencies that are there. A lot of fellas retired, others didn't come in, but they are the fellas that wanted to play for Louth and they tried exceptionally hard." The sublime Mattie Forde was Louth's tormentor-in-chief, weighing in with eight points for the Model County. Wexford led by 1-6 to 0-4 at the interval and it would have been worse for Louth but for Shane McCoy's excellent 34th-minute penalty save from Forde. Paddy Keenan opened Louth's second-half account but the second period produced little of note from a Wee County perspective, except perhaps for a classy point from substitute Mark Stanfield and - less encouragingly - the dismissal for a second bookable offence of Ray Rooney. The size of the task facing Louth was evident from the moment Val Andrews announced his championship team, including eight debutants. The side was captained by St Josephs veteran Ollie McDonnell, one of only three experienced championship campaigners on the starting XV. Simon Gerrard (he'd been out since the league game against Wicklow three months earlier)returned from suspension to take his place at right corner back, while right half back Alan Page was the only other seasoned championship player on view, although Dundalk Gaels' Ray Rooney had been a mainstay of the senior county team a number of years back. The presence of the following players, all of whom featured in the premier competition for the first time, confirmed that a massive rebuilding programme was underway: goalkeeper Shane McCoy, corner back Jamie Carr, centre back Paudie Mallon, midfielder David Devaney, half forwards Raymond Finnegan, Darren Clarke and Ray Kelly, and left corner forward Paddy Matthews. Jonathan Clerkin, Patrick Keenan and David Reid had limited exposure, as they only made their debuts in the 2003 provincial competition. Louth could hardly have asked for a more difficult opener. Pat Roe's team were the most improved in the country during 2004 and Wexford were high on confidence heading into the championship. They had just featured in Division One of the national football league for the first time ever. They gave a tremendous account of themselves and comfortably retained their top-flight status. Indeed, the Model County had been unlucky not to make the semi-finals - they would have progressed had they got a draw or better against then reigning Leinster champions Laois in their last group game. Ominously, Wexford finished their campaign with by far and away the best scoring average in Division 1B - a magnificent tally of +21. Limerick and Galway, who qualified for the semi-finals, had scoring differences of +12 and -1 respectively. Wexford came within a point of Armagh (away) in their first outing and beat Meath next day out. They recorded superb wins over Sligo (3-17 to 0-13 in Wexford Park) and Galway (5-12 to 1-7 in Tuam) and boast perhaps the finest forward in the country in Mattie Forde. Compare this to Louth's form in Division 2B - six straight defeats followed by a narrow victory over whipping boys Waterford. That first competitive win under the new regime was recorded at Drogheda on April 4, when Louth prevailed by 1-17 to 1-12 against the Munster whipping boys. Played in front of a paltry attendance of about 350, the home side led by 1-8 to 0-6 at half-time despite playing against the strong wind. The goal came after 18 minutes when wing forward Paddy Keenan finished from close range after being set up by David Devaney. The visitors had reduced the deficit to three points, 1-12 to 1-15, with five minutes remaining, but Louth made sure of victory with late points from top scorer Darren Clarke and substitute Christy Grimes. Prior to that game Louth had lost six league matches on the trot, losing to Antrim (1-9 to 1-7 at Ardee on February 1), Derry (0-21 to 1-7 at Celtic Park on February 8), Wicklow (1-11 to 1-8 at Ardee on February 15), Tipperary (0-16 to 1-10 at Clonmel on March 7), Kildare (0-15 to 1-11 at Newbridge on March 14) and Down (3-15 to 1-12 at Drogheda on March 21). Earlier in the year, in the O'Byrne Cup, Louth took Westmeath to extra time and the Lake County went on to enjoy a fantastic year. The Wee County also entered the inaugural Tommy Murphy Cup. They faced Clare at the semi-final stage at Parnell Park on Saturday August 7 but were comprehensively beaten, 2-11 to 0-8. That defeat brought the curtain down on a difficult year, but there is still hope for Louth in 2005 and beyond. Tweet

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