Paddy Carr saw his Louth team scale a mountain in Navan, but just when they appeared set to plant their flag at the summit, Meath did what Meath do best and came from nowhere to deprive them of their moment of glory. Louth were in control of the All-Ireland SFC qualifier and looked all set for a first championship success at senior level against their neighbours and great north Leinster rivals since 1975 when they brought the Royal County back to earth with a shuddering bang after their National League final victory over Dublin. But Meath have a habit of spoiling parties just when they're about to get into full swing and their Houdini act that June evening in Pairc Tailteann demonstrated just how cruel sport can be. First, Richie Kealy struck with a goal to reduce the deficit, but as the scheduled three minutes of injury time ticked away Louth still looked good for a famous and thoroughly deserved victory. But Armagh referee Brendan Gorman kept the action going beyond the three minutes, much to the annoyance of the Louth supporters, and Graham Geraghty pounced with a brilliant second goal to earn Meath one of the most sensational victories in their catalogue of sensational victories and leave Louth shattered and totally dejected. It finished 3-8 to 2-9. For Carr, his team and the huge band of Louth fans who thought they were about to witness a famous victory, it was sickening and it would have been a very hard-hearted person who couldn't feel some sympathy for the Wee County in Navan that evening. Indeed, Carr endured a campaign of mixed emotions at Pairc Tailteann during the summer of 2002, from the worry he must have felt as Louth fell well behind against Longford in a preliminary round Leinster Championship match in early May, before demonstrating great character to battle back and force a replay. He must have taken great pleasure and satisfaction from their performance in that second meeting a week later as they scored freely, winning by 3-17 to 1-12, but then came the agony of a one-point quarter-final defeat against Kildare when they had sufficient possession to win comfortably. And later came all the emotion of that match against Meath as Louth, who had got the better of Monaghan in their opening qualifier at Clones, played some superb football to carve out what looked like a certain winning lead, only to be overtaken in the cruellest of fashion. The reality was that Louth didn't deserve to lose - but they did - and the fact that it was against their great rivals must have made it even more painful and hard to come to terms with. But time heals and Carr has put that awful defeat behind him, preferring instead to look into the future in search of Louth's first Leinster senior title since 1957, which was also the year of their last All-Ireland triumph. Louth surely learned a fair amount about themselves during the 2002 campaign, when they also learned that Gaelic football can be cruel, particularly to counties that are working their socks off to catch up with the big boys. Carr, however, isn't looking for sympathy and remains totally focused and positive. But did he view it as a year of progress for his team? "To be honest about it, that's for others to judge," he said. "When I first got involved with Louth our first match of significance was a National Football League relegation play-off against Donegal. We just didn't appear to be competing at that time. "We desperately wanted to be competitive, though that's not good enough on its own. We put a programme together and geared our preparations towards what was going to happen in the championship. After all, that's what people really want and you have to be realistic about the National League. The two teams that went on to contest the All-Ireland final, Armagh and Kerry, were in our division, 2A." Louth finished fourth in their division after winning four of their seven matches, against London, Wicklow, Limerick and Kerry, drawing with Leitrim and losing two, against All-Ireland champions to be Armagh and Antrim. The victory over Kerry when they scored an impressive 1-18 was very encouraging, but everything was being geared towards the summer and an assault on the Leinster Championship. The qualifier system meant that Louth played five championship games, starting with that draw against Longford in a Leinster preliminary round match when they had to battle back from seven points behind to force a replay. That second match produced an impressive free-scoring display from Louth as they tallied 3-17 and won by 11 points. It was just what the doctor ordered, but their accuracy deserted them next time out against Kildare when they dominated for long spells, but wasted far too much possession and lost by a point. The players knew they had missed a golden opportunity. "The players were very angry with themselves afterwards," Carr said after that match. "We said beforehand that there would be 15 battles out there and that we would have to win the 15 battles to win the war. Well, I think we won most of the 15 battles. "The players were anxious to try and win the game in the closing minutes. I was trying to tell them to compose themselves, that we would win the game, but little things went against us. They had a couple of points that went in off the post and we had a couple that went wide off the post - that's the difference at the end of the day. "Our goalkeeper Stuart Reynolds hadn't one shot to save during the course of the game and I think that tells you something about the way the game was played." The Leinster dream was over, but the great thing about the qualifiers is that they offer a second chance and an opportunity to regroup, whereas in previous years that would have been it - no more competitive football until the following season's National League. Louth got their qualifier campaign off to a successful start when winning by 2-11 to 1-8 against Monaghan in what was generally viewed as a potential banana skin fixture at Clones. Next up were Meath and Louth looked like a team that was learning fast as they played with a certain urgency and confidence against the Royal County. It was a performance that merited a victory, certainly not a shattering defeat, but what happened deep into injury time is history now and Carr is happy to consign it to the past. "So much has been said about what happened in Navan that evening," Carr added. "It was really sickening at the time. Things that happened at the end of that game will have to be addressed, but that's neither here nor there. I believe the whole experience gave the squad a certain belief in themselves. They know now that they're not going to lie down. "And one thing is for absolute certain, we are not feeling sorry for ourselves. The ship is still moving along, very much so." And talking to Carr as he watches his players going through their paces on a bitterly cold and windy October evening, all his thoughts are focused firmly on the future - not the past. As always, he's brimming with enthusiasm, looking forward to the challenges ahead, and he's positive. Very, very positive. "We have a programme of preparation in place," he said. "We have worked very hard to get the right people on board to further our ambitions and I believe we have the right people. We want to ensure that things go well and we are certainly looking forward to the year ahead. "All we can do is leave no stone unturned in our preparations. I can guarantee the Louth supporters that we will do that. Those supporters have really got behind the team. I know there have been false dawns in the past for Louth football, but these lads are putting in a phenomenal effort and there's more to come." Forty-five years is a long time without a Leinster senior title and winning one is never easily achieved. Paddy Carr is around long enough in football to know that. But he's determined to ensure that every effort is put into trying to achieve Louth's ambitions. The Wee County supporters can rest assured on that score. Tweet

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