THE BIGGEST fear for a team like Louth right now is losing sight of the task at hand – their Leinster championship opener against Westmeath on Sunday potentially making or breaking their season.
They’re already without a list of players through injury or defection, but any distraction from the past, or the future, could prove Louth’s ultimate undoing in Páirc Tailteann.
They have beaten Westmeath already this year, convincingly, in the first round of the league, also finishing up fourth in Division Two, one place above them. Then there’s the possible date with Leinster and All-Ireland champions Dublin, who await the winners, in Croke Park, just two weeks later.
Louth defender Declan Byrne appears to have this etched into his brain already, that defeat to Westmeath on Sunday would undo so much of the good work carried out in the league, while also throwing them in the horrible vacuum that is the All-Ireland qualifiers. “That’s what every team aspires to, playing Dublin in Croke Park, in front of 50,000, or more” says Byrne. “But we can’t look past Westmeath, knowing how close they are to us. We’d see it as an even enough game. There’s never much more than a point or two between us when we play them. We were fourth in the league, they were fifth, and I think that’s a fair reflection of where we are, how close we are.”
Louth’s league form surprised some, possibly even Louth themselves: tipped for relegation (along with Westmeath), they then drew with Galway and Derry, played well against Kildare and Tyrone, and capped it off by beating Meath, impressively so, in what proved to be a relegation decider (as Meath actually went down to Division Three, along with Monaghan).
“It was a very enjoyable day, finishing up fourth in Division Two, which is about where you want to be,” says Byrne. “There was a real championship intensity too, a winner-takes-all, and hopefully that’s left us in good stead going into the Westmeath game on Sunday too.
“We’re always considered one of the lower, weaker counties in Leinster. I think we have stepped it up the last few years. There’s a lot of work being done within the county.”
Byrne is one of three Louth players employed by the county board as a games promotion officer, and believes that sort of groundwork has helped bring more consistency to Louth football, not just at senior level: “Dundalk and Drogheda are still strong soccer towns, and we’re always fighting against that, especially underage.
“Three of us are involved now at underage coaching in the county, and that helps bring it on as well. I think the talent is starting to come through, at minor level, and you saw it at under-21 this year as well, making the Leinster final. Unfortunately losing out to Dublin.
“But at least these teams are coming through, and that’s driving on football in the county the whole time. Our first ambition this year was to retain Division Two status. We’ve done that, well enough, even if it did come down to the final game. But there is a bit of buzz about the team, a bit like 2010.”
The heights of 2010 – when Louth were denied a first Leinster title since 1957 a cruelly controversial Meath goal – are fading, but not all in a bad way. Byrne believes Louth have the ability to repeat that sort of championship run, despite the long list of absentees going into this campaign: midfielders Brian White, Brian Donnelly and James Califf are set to spend the summer in the US, Shane Lennon will miss the summer after undergoing a hip operation, and the extended injury list also includes Mick Fanning, Eamon McAuley, and Eoin O’Connor, one of the standout players from the current under-21 team. “It’s unfortunate, nearly always a problem for us,” says Byrne, “because it’s always hard to find work. But we just plough on with what we’ve got, hoping that’s good enough.”
That’s been the mantra of manager Peter Fitzpatrick too. “He does bring a great enthusiasm to it, still. He’s still very good in the dressingroom, and got the backroom team as well. And he’s got us entirely focused on Westmeath, that’s it,” Byrne added.
