There's no doubting who should be named Louth's 'Team of the Year' for 2003. That accolade goes to the Wee County's minors, who restored faith in underage football in the county during seven scintillating championship outings and came within an ace of reaching the Leinster final for the first time since 1971. As this would be the first Development Squad team to emerge onto the under 18 stage, a swell of optimism cloaked the Louth minors at the start of the year. And, even though this enthusiasm was tempered by the humbling memory of past disappointments, big things were predicted for Paddy Oliver's team. So how did they fare? Thankfully, we have a resounding success story to report this year. As it turned out, all expectations were exceeded: Louth's superb minors went on a magnificent run that made them the pride of the Wee County. Even more impressive than the results chalked up was the quality of football produced, and undoubtedly many of these players will go on to represent the Wee County at senior level in the not-too-distant future. After many years of abject failure, it appears that Louth have finally turned the corner at minor level. With a little bit of luck in '03, they could quite easily have been celebrating a Leinster MFC coup - or better. And, make no mistake, such a success would have been fully merited . . . this team was THAT good. They played some wonderful football over the course of an epic championship campaign. They looked sharp, fresh, eager, talented and well-coached. They played with a common purpose. It was entertaining to watch, heartening to see. The revival was kick-started by the 2002 minor team. After succumbing to (eventual Leinster champions) Longford in the first round of the preliminary group that side bounced back with three wins on the trot, setting the tone for the run that was to follow in '03. Thus, the monkey was off Louth's back going into the latest campaign. They'd ditched their losing habit and also had a crop of players on hand who were used to playing together and had formulated a winning habit of their own over the years. It was a potent formula - little wonder the end result proved so explosive! Including those three wins towards the tail-end of the previous season, Louth were on an incredible sequence of eight straight championship victories going into their 2003 provincial semi-final clash with Dublin. They almost extended the run to nine, but a couple of late scores from the Sky Blues brought the tie to a replay and the Dubs made no mistake seven days later. Dublin went on to win the Leinster championship and were beaten in the All-Ireland final after a replay. Despite the obvious disappointment of missing out on a Leinster final place, there was still cause for celebration. The minors had provided us with entertainment above and beyond the call of duty and their season had been a resounding success. In an otherwise forgettable year for Louth GAA, here was the light at the end of the tunnel. The Wee County minors had almost single-handedly flown the red flag on the intercounty stage (the U21s did well also) and breathed life into the reality that the future of Louth football isn't as bleak as the doomsayers suggest. In the end, Louth came up only marginally short in the provincial semi-final replay at Navan's Pairc Tailteann on Wednesday July 9th, losing by five points, 1-12 to 1-7. Crucially, they were missing one of their most important players for that game - midfielder Robert Kearney - a blow which certainly affected their chances. Still, they almost pulled it out of the fire. Trailing by seven points with ten minutes remaining, they hit 1-2 (Trevor O'Brien scored the goal) to close the gap to two points but Dublin finished strongest with three late points to clinch the final spot. The dream was over, but what a brave effort! For the second year in a row, Louth were pitted in the five-team preliminary round group. The Wee County got their 2003 Leinster minor football championship campaign up and running when they entertained Longford at Drogheda on Saturday April 12th. It was a good early test of Louth's credentials. In fact, they could hardly have asked for a trickier opening as the midlanders were full of confidence following their march to provincial glory the previous summer and a general buoyancy at underage and colleges level in the county. Louth were up for it, though, and had good cause for optimism. First of all, this was their first 'Development Squad' team to filter through. Also, they had recorded some decent wins in the '02 competition themselves and performances against the likes of Meath and Armagh in the Ulster minor league suggested they were capable of big things. As it turned out, Louth were clearly the better team at the county grounds and galloped to a 0-12 to 0-9 success, a win which set them up as favourites to emerge from the preliminary group. Longford drew first blood inside the opening minute but Louth quickly edged ahead thanks to a brace of Shane Lennon points. However, the midlanders were on song early on and recorded four unanswered points to assume a 0-5 to 0-2 lead. Wing back Andrew Tinley reduced the deficit and full forward Lennon provided Louth's final score of the half. At the interval they trailed by two points, 0-6 to 0-4. Corner man Mark McCormack scored the only two points in the opening ten minutes of the second half, leaving the sides level with 20 minutes remaining. It was now a matter of who wanted it most - and that team was Louth! When Longford crept back in front, Louth's response was a pair of points from Robert Kearney and Hugh McGinn. Longford landed two more points either side of a score from Man of the Match Lennon to leave the sides tied on nine points apiece with time almost up. But Louth finished strongly with unanswered points from Lennon (2) and Vincent Loughran. This was a crucial win for Paddy Oliver's team as it put them in the driving seat for a Leinster quarter-final place. Louth had three 'preliminary' games left, against Kilkenny (away), Carlow (home) and Wicklow (away), three teams they had beaten in 2002. The task now facing the management team (and players alike) was to ensure there were no unforseeable slip-ups. They needn't have worried... The win over Kilkenny at Nowlan Park on Saturday April 19th was embarrassingly easy. The final score of 5-18 to 0-3 represented a 30-point winning margin and, as an exercise, the game was useless to the victors. However, it was another two points in the bag and that was the most important thing. Louth got off to a blistering start with a goal and point inside the first minute, Mark McCormack rattling the net after Shane Lennon had opened the scoring. It was one-way traffic as Emmet Duffy added another point and Lennon fired a second goal in the eighth minute. Superb Kilkerley Emmets clubman and captain Lennon went on to register a personal haul of 2-6 with yet another Man of the Match performance. However, as was the case throughout the campaign, every player contributed handsomely to what was a stunning all-round team effort, albeit against the group's whipping boys. Next up in the round-robin series were Carlow at Ardee's Pairc Mhuire on the Tuesday evening of April 29th. This was billed as a vital clash - just like Louth, the Barrowsiders had won their opening two matches. What transpired was another mismatch, however, with the Wee County romping to a 2-12 to 0-1 win and moving another step closer to the Leinster championship proper. The winners led by 1-5 to 0-1 at the break and continued to dominate proceedings upon the turnaround. Louth goalkeeper Neil Gallagher (who had lined out for Dundalk FC in an eircom league fixture the previous Saturday) wasn't troubled once over the hour. In the wake of their electrifying start to the campaign, the county minors were generating a growing sense of optimism. Two successive landslide victories had captured the public imagination and there was even talk that this team could emulate 2002 provincial champions Longford ... a tall order, but this was a special team. First up, though, they had to beat Wicklow. Despite sterling resistence from the hosts, Louth eventually beat the Garden County by double scores at Aughrim on Saturday May 2nd, progressing to a Leinster quarter-final meeting with Offaly by virtue of a 3-13 to 1-8 victory. Even though this was Louth's second championship game in four days and the players had also lined out for their clubs the previous weekend, they still gave an excellent display. They led by 0-8 to 0-5 at half time and received a boost when Wicklow were reduced to fourteen men within five minutes of the re-start. However, Wicklow then took a shock lead with a 44th-minute goal. But Louth refused to panic and calmly stepped up a gear to ease away for a comfortably victory. Shane Lennon contributed 2-6 this time, bringing his tally to 4-25 from four games! Louth has home venue for the Leinster quarter-final clash with Offaly on May 17th. The game was held in Ardee and the Wee County's goalscoring prowess was central to a stunning seven-point win, 4-7 to 0-12. It was an exciting quarter-final but Louth took the spoils courtesy of a strong second-half display, which produced three of their four goals. The hosts made a tentative start, conceding four points in the first eight minutes but from there on the winners-elect demonstrated greater efficiency in front of the posts to draw level by the short whistle, 1-4 to 0-7. Mark McCormack, Hugh McGinn and Shane Lennon netted the killer goals after the interval. Having eliminated a highly-rated Offaly side, Louth fancied their chances against Dublin and what a performance they delivered in the drawn semi-final at Navan on Wednesday July 2nd! Only an injury-time Dublin point denied the Wee County a place in the Leinster final. Louth led by four points at the three-quarters stage but the Dubs fought back to sneak a point ahead. Louth looked to be on their way, however, when team captain Shane Lennon placed Trevor O'Brien for a magnificent late goal. Dublin, though, had the last say of an end-to-end affair that finished: Louth 1-8, Dublin 0-11. The sides had shared six early points before John O'Brien and Lennon intervened to give the Red & Whites a 0-5 to 0-3 half-time advantage. In the second period, Louth came agonisingly close to victory, but perhaps the draw was a fair enough result in the end. Unfortunately for Louth, they came unstuck in the replay at the same venue seven days later. Improved Dublin prevailed by 1-12 to 1-7 against an understrength Louth side, to book a place in the final against Laois.Incidentally, the same two teams went on to contest the All-Ireland final. Louth trailed bu 0-3 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter but a pair of Shane Lennon points drew them level before the Dubs finished powerfully to claim a 0-6 to 0-3 lead at the break. In the next 20 minutes Dublin got on top and opened up a commanding 1-9 to 0-5 lead. But a goal from Trevor O'Brien and two further Lennon points reduced the leeway to a mere two points and gave Paddy Oliver's side and their supporters renewed hope. It was the Dubs who got the vital late scores, though, and even the brave move of bringing goalkeeper Neil Gallagher into midfield failed to turn the tide in Louth's favour. Thus, the Wee County's gallant voyage was over after a mighty and commendable showing. At long last Louth have managed to pen a success story at minor level - and let us not forget that the county's U21s did okay in '03 too. There's some exceptional talent coming through at the moment ... if we nurture and protect it, the future could yet be bright. Louth (V Dublin, 2003 Leinster MFC semi-final replay): Neil Gallagher; Sean Gilsenan, Padraig Lynch, Aidan Murphy; Andrew Tinley, Conor Sheridan, John O'Brien; Ronan Carroll, Michael Fanning; Derek Crilly, Hugh McGinn, David Boylan; Trevor O'Brien, Shane Lennon, Mark McCormack. Subs: Emmet Duffy, Darragh Breene, Raymond McCabe, Gavin Sullivan, Sean Fee. Tweet

Most Read Stories