Louth senior footballer Mark Stanfield was arguably his side's most potent attacker in 2003. The hurt caused by high-profile championship defeats has left its mark though, says Kevin Carney. Things looked just dandy for Louth last February. Team-manager Paddy Carr could scarcely have been happier with his charges. Not alone were his men showing absolute and total commitment to the cause but the right results were being chalked up in tandem. And, among those results, were a morale-boosting win at Aughrim against would-be Leinster SFC opponents Wicklow. Spring was in the air and there was a spring in Louth's step with targetman Mark Stanfield leading the charge. The strapping full-forward scored 1-6 in a five-star show against the Garden County to send the Wee County camp off to Marbella with smiles on their faces. Sadly less than four months later, Dublin and Cavan would conspire to remove those smiles and usher supremo Carr out of the hot-seat. So where did it all go wrong? "It's hard to know how it all unravelled but people saw for themselves how we messed up in the Leinster championship and then in the qualifiers. "But as the saying goes, hope springs eternal in Louth and next year is another year," the aforementioned Stanfield concludes. The Castlebellingham man suggests that you have to be optimistic playing for Louth otherwise you'd give up on trying to help the county cast the monkey of 1957 off its back. But at the same time he doesn't begin to play down the devastation wreaked on his own morale and that of the Louth players in general by their summer of discontent. A year that began so promisingly with two league wins from two starts culminated in team-manager Paddy Carr stepping down despite having another year to go in the job. "Paddy is a gentleman and he tried his very best to get the very best out of us. Unfortunately we didn't always produce our best and he obviously felt in his own mind that the time was right for him to leave. I'm sorry he has gone but we just have to get on with it." Louth county secretary Pat Toner was equally generous in his praise of the outgoing manager: "Paddy was a gentleman to deal with, upfront about everything and it's a disappointment that we never followed through from last year." Both Stanfield and Toner are at one also in recognising that Louth's day in the sun may still be a wee while in coming too. The county's failure to set the minor and under 21 scenes alight over the last ten years suggests that quality footballers aren't exactly flooding the pipelines targeted at replenishing the senior camp at regular intervals. "The success this year of the county minor team which brought Dublin to a replay in the Leinster final was a help in lifting morale a bit though. "It would be nice to think that a few of those minors who did so well against Dublin would be challenging for places on the senior squad in 2004. "Every team needs competition for places and that hasn't always been the case in Louth so hopefully things will change in that regard over the next while," the O'Connells clubman suggests. So many months on and it's obvious that the memories of Louth's annus horribilus still haunt the ace marksman. "It was just so very disappointing, especially because we played so poorly in the championship games. "We didn't do ourselves justice against Dublin but having said that we didn't get a lot of luck either," Mark reflects. Louth played Dublin in the Leinster SFC quarter-final on June 1st. It was expected that Louth would present a Becher's Brook type obstacle before the Dubs but, instead, the metropolitans were left with just a hurdle to negotiate, winning easily on a 1-19 to 0-9 scoreline. Louth's troubles were apparent from early on and, in truth, the Leinster minnows never looked like securing a first championship win over Dublin since 1973. The early stability that they yearned for just couldn't be grabbed. "They got the break by getting through for a goal in the first five minutes whereas we hit the post and unfortunately things just got worse from there on." One wonders did Louth have the requisite self-belief or confidence going into the game against Dublin? "I think so. Our hopes were high that we'd at least run them very close. Everyone in the county expected us to put up a good show and we thought we would. "We believed we had a good young team. We felt that preparations had gone well and we were fairly happy with our league form." Even though promotion was missed out? "That's true. We had a do-or-die match with Limerick in Ardee but we slipped up which was disappointing at the time but I don't think it effected the morale of the team. "Losing to Limerick wasn't a huge blow because like for every other team, the championship was the one." And, sure enough, things seemed to be back right on track when Louth had a comfortable victory over Wicklow in their provincial championship bow. "I know everyone in Louth and possibly around the country expected us to beat Wicklow but we still had to go out and do the business. "We were glad to get the game out of the way and getting a win under your belt is always good for the confidence." The Wee County's subsequent defeat to Dublin put everything into perspective though. The team's 13 point defeat made it a very lonely and depressing trek home from Croke Park for all concerned with Louth football. "We felt we would get it right though in the qualifiers," Mark explains. And that was a sentiment shared by Louth boss Carr at the time also: "We can do a lot better than we did today so we're delighted to have a second chance. We're out of Leinster but we're still in the All-Ireland race. "There's a new challenge ahead and we have to get it right," the former supremo commented after the game at Croke Park. Unfortunately matters wouldn't improve for Louth. Less than a week later Louth football was plunged into further depression with Navan becoming the Wee County's burial ground for the second year running after Cavan secured a 1-12 to 2-7 victory in the first round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers. As usual, Mark weighed in with his customary bevy of scores, notching 1-1, and was easily his side's best forward on the day. "Our heads were down after losing to Dublin but I don't think the six days rest between the matches is enough time to recover. "Gaelic footballers aren't professionals and I personally felt drained even going into the Cavan game, both physically and mentally." And the feeling in the camp generally? "It was a bit unreal. We were out of the championship yet still in it - out of the race for the Leinster title but still in the running for the All-Ireland." Like being in the twilight zone? "That's right except for the fact that we were still very much in the spotlight in that twilight zone." Without labouring the point about tiredness being a factor in Louth's poor display against the Breffni county, the 26-year old attacker insists the Ulster side were much fresher and less lethargic when the heat was turned up: "We did okay in the first half but we died in the last ten minutes of the game. "Cavan hadn't played for something like three weeks and they didn't look nearly as tired as us." So did the team get a hammering from their supporters after the defeat? "Louth supporters aren't that much different from other county supporters in that they want their team to be successful and when things don't go right, the criticism begins to flow. "It's understandable in a way because they haven't had anything to cheer about since 1957 when the county last won the Leinster title but they have to remember also that players do their best." Doing his best for O'Connells and Louth is the Stanfield way. Winner of a McArdle Cup medal at club level in recent years along with county colleague Peter Fitzpatrick, Mark has Down blood in his veins. His father John hails from Hilltown, home of former Mourne County star Ross Carr. So will Louth ever reach the heady heights climbed by their Mourne County neighbours back in the nineties? "With Louth you live in hope. "There is a great core of GAA support in the county and it would be fantastic for the game in the county if we could make the breakthrough. "For now though it's time for a rest and a chance to re-charge the batteries." Tweet

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