Louth's minors went on a dream run in the 2007 Leinster MFC and, by late June, found themselves on the brink of a first provincial final appearance in 36 years. Having disposed of Kildare and Wicklow, the Wee County faced Carlow at the semi-final stage in Croke Park in front of over 70,000 spectators. For once, tradition was on the Reds' side as the Barrowsiders had never contested a Leinster final at minor level. It augured well for Kieran Maguire's side; then - without warning - things went horribly wrong. The official attendance at the Louth/Carlow 2007 Leinster MFC semi-final in Croke Park on Sunday June 24 was 77,623. Quite how many paying members of the public were actually in their seats for the game itself is a matter of conjecture as the U18s were opening a double bill that also included the senior semi-final between Dublin and Offaly as its main course. However, it's safe to assume that the vast majority of the 80-odd-thousand spectators at HQ had settled by the time all hell broke loose in the minor match. Louth passed over a glorious opportunity to book a historic date in the provincial decider when they succumbed to the Scallion Eaters on a 1-10 to 0-9 scoreline. Unfortunately, their abject sense of disappointment was compounded by the disgraceful nature of the melee that marred the closing stages of a match that effectively defined their season. In the space of a few moments of madness, the players who had done their county proud over the summer lost their sheen. Vilified in both local and national media; their year descended into a nightmare. It was an unfortunate incident and it couldn't have happened at a worse possible time. Of course, the players know themselves that such behaviour isn't good enough and hopefully they will learn from their mistakes. Anyway, for the purposes of this season review, we'll say no more about the disciplinary breach and concentrate only on the football. And let us make no mistake: the Louth minors produced some real quality in '07. Carlow Unfortunately, they misfired in the Leinster semi-final, offering a performance that prompted their manager to concede that "we didn't play well and we're out - it speaks for itself." Carlow served notice of their pedigree when eliminating defending champions Meath, Westmeath and Wexford en route to the semi-final (after losing to Longford in the first round). Louth, meanwhile, took the front door path - seeing off Kildare and Wicklow. Louth were the brighter side in the opening exchanges and points from Declan Byrne, Eanna McArdle, Sean McCann and Kevin Rogers propelled them into a 0-4 to 0-2 advantage after 17 minutes. However, they were rocked by a Carlow goal three minutes later. The Barrowsiders added two more points to lead by the goal and an exchange of points left the Tricolours 1-5 to 0-5 ahead at the break. McArdle and Rogers both came close to registering the goal Louth needed shortly after the resumption but the Dundalk Gaels clubman drove a powerful shot inches wide before the latter saw his shot smothered by the Carlow custodian. The wasteful Wee County had also struck a series of poor wides in the second quarter and were visibly wilting before Carlow produced the first two points of the second half. Though Derek Maguire converted a free, Carlow replied immediately to lead emphatically - 1-8 to 0-6. There were six between the sides when Carlow's top scorer Con Murphy sent a free between the posts with ten minutes left. Louth rekindled their hopes with three scores in six minutes - a brace from their most impressive player on the day - McArdle - and one from Dean Matthews. Four minutes of stoppage time were added but much of this was taken up by the 30-man brawl, which resulted in Louth's Brian Duffy and Matthews being dismissed along with Carlow's influential midfielder Brendan Murphy. Frustratingly, Louth had missed out on a July 15 Leinster final spot. Louth had gone into the semi-final full of hope. They hadn't reached a Leinster final since 1971 (when they lost to Dublin) and we have to go back as far as 1953 for the Wee County's last outright provincial MFC success. History was there to be made and one can't help but wonder did the pressure and enormity of the occasion ultimately get to the players, who never approached the level of performances delivered against Wicklow and Kildare. The protracted nature of the '07 Leinster SFC (including those three Wicklow/Louth games, as well as a Dublin/Meath draw) presented Louth with the chance of playing at HQ and manager Maguire welcomed the decision, saying: "The lads are delighted. The game itself is coming a wee bit earlier than we were anticipating but the lads were raring to go even before we heard it would be in Croke Park." Still, due to a break for exams, the semi-final took place a full six weeks after Louth's quarter-final defeat of the Garden County and perhaps this offered a more legitimate explanation as to why the Reds lost their edge. Wicklow Niall Conlon's speculative 48th-minute goal was the most memorable moment of Louth's stunning 1-12 to 1-3 quarter-final defeat of Wicklow at Arklow on Saturday May 12. In this game, the Wee County lads made light of the long trek south to produce their most incisive performance of the year, with all six forwards on target in a rousing display. The only disappointing aspect of the result was the news shortly afterwards that Louth would not have home advantage for the semi-final, as had been thought prior to their quarter-final success. Instead, the Carlow game was now to be played at a neutral setting. Wicklow went into this game with a decent reputation following their thumping 2-14 to 0-8 win over Offaly, but Louth never looked back after a stirring start with a converted free from Derek Maguire in the first minute. Maguire (free), Eanna McArdle and Dean Matthews added points before the Garden County slotted home a 17th-minute penalty - their only score of the first half. Wind-assisted, Louth tagged on further scores from Matthews (2) and Padraig Smith, while the former also produced a fine save from the losing goalie. At the short whistle, the Reds led by 0-7 to 1-0. Wicklow pointed twice on the resumption to threaten a comeback but Kevin Rogers' 41st-minute point stymied any thoughts of a fightback. O'Connells clubman Conlon pointed before embellishing a Man of the Match performance with a cracking major: Conlon tirelessly chased Ryan Lenaghan's long ball and somehow flicked the ball back into the net from the endline. Thereafter, Matthews, Lenaghan and Maguire were all on target as Louth ran out comfortable victors. Kildare Louth, whose involvement in the Ulster minor league was of obvious benefit, had progressed to the quarter-final stage of the Leinster MFC following a superb victory over Kildare. The Wee County U18s turned in an excellent display to defeat the Lilywhites by 1-12 to 0-13 at Dowdallshill on Saturday April 7. The visitors - wind aided - settled best at St Brigid's Park and they had two scores on the board inside the opening minute. Louth gradually took control of midfield exchanges and centre forward Padraig Smith opened their account on nine minutes. Dundalk Gaels clubman Eanna McArdle joined the Dreadnots prodigy on the scoreboard a minute later as the Reds levelled. Derek Maguire won a penalty in the twelfth minute but he saw his shot well blocked by Kildare 'keeper Shane Connolly. The Young Irelands man struck a post with the rebound. Injury-time points from Smith and Niall Conlon were sufficient to send the sides in level at the break, 0-6 apiece. Kildare made a rousing start to the second half and had another point to their credit before Ryan Lenaghan stopped them in their tracks with a 36th-minute piledriver to the roof of the net. But the visitors added four unanswered points in the next ten minutes and Louth looked to be in trouble. Brian Duffy and Maguire levelled matters for the fourth time with eight minutes left and Maguire then exchanged points with Kildare's Seamus Hannifin. However, the winners totally dominated the closing six minutes and points from Jason Clarke, Sean McCann and Maguire gave the Wee County their first provincial knockout victory at this level since 2003. After the magnificent win, a proud manager declared: "These lads have shown great character up the north over the last couple of weeks and they showed it again. It was a hard, typical championship match. I'm delighted for the lads and the fellas who have been working with them too. We move on to the next step now and hopefully we'll improve as we go on. We're getting better with every game and I'm delighted we got a win." Louth, 2007 Leinster MFC semi-final V Carlow: S Connolly; G Hoey, P Nixon, D Byrne (0-1); J Clarke, P Smith, RJ Callaghan; B Duffy, S McCann (0-1); E McArdle (0-3), R Lenaghan, D Matthews (0-1); N Conlon, D Maguire (0-2), K Rogers (0-1). Subs: D Moloney, B Flanagan, R Callaghan, P Flynn Tweet

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