Two-thousand-and-four didn't go quite according to plan for the Wee County's senior hurling team. Louth's stickmen disappointingly failed to make an impression in Division Three of the national hurling league and were beaten by Longford in the first round of the junior championship. It was all very bleak and frustrating but, with a fresh approach and a new injection of impetus, there's no reason why the lost ground can't be recovered in the coming months. For some reason, Louth's hurlers never got into their stride in '04. Previously, Louth had been perennial challengers for promotion, but this time they never got their league campaign off the ground at all. An earlier than usual exit from the championship was equally disappointing. The Wee County had become accustomed to better things in the small ball code and those associated with the team were at a loss to figure out exactly where it all went wrong. Manager Joe Power took it on the chin. His reading of the situation was that things had gone a bit stale and that perhaps new blood was needed on the line. Thus, he decided to step down in the hope that a fresh face at the helm, and new ideas, would jumpstart the spluttering engine. It was a brave and honest move from the Tipperary man. However, there is also a feeling that fresh faces are needed on the pitch if Louth hurling is to arrest the slide and begin to move forward once more. As Shane Darcy, who captained the team in the latter part of the troublesome '04 season, notes: "We had the same management and more or less the same personnel again in 2004. The most disappointing aspect of it was that more young players didn't come forward and make themselves available. There are many good young hurlers in the county and we need their contribution at intercounty level. For some reason or another, some of them didn't make themselves available for Louth, and the panel could certainly have done with the freshness their presence would've brought." It was certainly one of the most disappointing seasons Louth have endured in recent memory. The Wee County topped Division Three in 2000, reached the final in 2002 and were only pipped on scoring averages the following year. A similar assault was anticipated in '04, but for some reason it never materialised. Having won five of their seven league games in '03, big things were expected from the Wee County this time around. They fell flat on their faces, however, delivering a listless and uninspired national league display. Louth were in Division 3B of the 2004 national hurling league. Here, they came up against Fermanagh, Cavan, Monaghan and Tyrone. They kicked off at home to the Breffni County on Sunday February 22 and only managed a very disappointing draw (1-7 apiece) against one of the poorest hurling county's in the land. Louth then lost in Fermanagh and had a Bye in Round Three before scoring a rousing 3-11 to 2-6 victory over Monaghan on Saturday March 20. This win showed what the lads were capable of … it was unquestionably one of the team's best performances of the year. Unfortunately, they couldn't sustain it and also lost their final Series One match in Tyrone. With three points from four games, Louth still progressed to the top half of Series 2. Amazingly, promotion remained within reach - but not for long. All three Series 2 matches were played in April and Joe Power's charges lost three times - to Sligo, Leitrim and Armagh. The performance against eventual winners Sligo was encouraging, but the defeat to Leitrim was acutely embarrassing. When the curtain came down on the NHL season, it was difficult to be even remotely pleased with a solitary win from seven league outings. It was a dismal return for a team that had been considered potential promotion material at the outset. Defeat to Longford in the first round of the junior championship compounded Louth's woes. If ever there was a year to forget, this was it… Thus, from a total of eight competitive outings in 2004, Louth hurlers managed to avoid defeat only twice - against Cavan and Monaghan. In a bid to boost the team, management had organised a novel weekend break in Ballycastle, County Antrim, where the players took a training session under Saffrons boss Dinny Cahill, but even this failed to ignite the team. The spark remained missing for the entire season. Louth went into the year with, on paper, as strong a team as they've ever had but things quickly went flat and the season developed into a struggle. Turnouts at training had never been better and the players seemed to have plenty of enthusiasm, commitment and determination. But for some reason they performed very badly against teams they should have been beating with plenty to spare. To merely draw with Cavan was previously unheard of and the defeat to Leitrim is another result that caused a wholesale reddening of cheeks. In the past, Louth have always been a step above these counties, but the Wee County appeared to regress in 2004 and the situation is somewhat disconcerting. For the opening ten minutes of the championship clash with Longford in Longford, the visitors were coasting but they faded out of contention completely following a flurry of scores from the midlanders and succumbed to a soul-destroying defeat. Their year was over. It never actually began. Wexford native Shane Darcy captained the team in the latter part of the year. Like the rest of the Wee County's hurling fraternity, the Knockbridge clubman is at a loss to explain just where it all went wrong: "I suppose it's the age old problem in what would be termed a football county. A lot of lads are more attracted to the brighter lights of the county football team. "There is a much greater desire to play football for Louth than there is to represent the county in hurling. There are many lads who would be of great benefit to the Louth hurling team, but they aren't committing themselves to it for one reason or another. In fairness, a lot of lads have other commitments and it can be difficult to find the time required." Also, the selectors aren't exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing their men. There are only four established clubs in the county: "The pick is limited," Shane accepts. "Compare this to football, where there are sixteen senior teams and fourteen intermediate teams. It's a big difference and it shows the difficulties being faced by Louth hurling." Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. The introduction of the new three-tier All-Ireland format is a godsend to the weaker hurling counties, and has been well received in the Wee County: "Because of the new system, there will be a great interest again this year. Assuming that we will be in the bottom tier, Louth will compete for the Nicky Rackard Cup. It gives us something tangible to aim for and it's an All-Ireland championship in its own right. The three-tier system is a definite progression and should act as a massive incentive to Louth." Was 2004 just a blip? "Hopefully. The results are a source of concern but I think it may have been a one-off and we can bounce back. In 2000, Louth won Division Three but the Foot & Mouth outbreak meant they never really got to play in Division Two the following year and they were relegated again. In 2002, we lost the Division Three final by a point and in 2003 we missed out on a Division Three final place on scoring averages. We were there or thereabouts - and then this year it all just collapsed. "The training was similar and the personnel was the same. A lot of work was invested but, in hindsight the lack of new players coming through didn't help. From a player point of view, it went a bit stale. The players are in the county, though, there's no doubt about it." How much ground was lost in 2004? "It was a setback but, in fairness, Louth hurling has been going back gradually since 2000. It's worth remembering that there were some good performances in 2004 - against Sligo, for example. But when things weren't going well, lads bailed out. We can learn from the experience. A new manager will bring in a fresh approach and renewed optimism. "There are lads in Louth who have the same skill levels as you'd see in the more traditional counties and we're definitely capable of moving up to Division Two if we get everybody out. Louth hurling could really progress if we had all hands on deck, but I'm not sure if this will ever happen…" There appears to be a conflict between the two codes in the Wee County, with hurling on the receiving end. Shane believes this needn't necessarily be the case: "A lot of it is due to a lack of communication. Clubs are afraid that they will lose players to the other code, but if they took part in open dialogue they would see that this isn't true. Arrangements could be made to accommodate everybody. If there was better communication it could eliminate the niggly conflicts that exist between the codes. "Maybe I'm being naïve, but I don't actually believe anyone in the county is anti-hurling. It's more a matter of people being pro-football, and hurling tends to get overlooked. "We also need to find more mentors because there aren't enough people in the county to teach the skills of the game at the moment." Shane has been based in Louth for three years, since marrying a Dundalk girl. A computer technician at DKIT, he also coached the Louth U16 hurling team in 2004. He's also a member of the college's Sigerson Cup organising committee, which is preparing for the historic occasion when the college hosts the prestigious third-level competition in 2005. Tweet

Most Read Stories